


Lost, Found, Returned

by starburstbebe



Category: Monsta X (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alpha Jung Hoseok | J-Hope, Alpha Kim Namjoon | RM, Alpha Lee Jooheon, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Cute Jeon Jungkook, Kid Fic, M/M, Oh look, Omega Kim Seokjin | Jin, Omega Min Yoongi | Suga, Omega Yoo Kihyun, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parent Min Yoongi | Suga, Parent Yoo Kihyun, Parent-Child Relationship, Single Parent Min Yoongi | Suga, Sope, That's kind of a big deal, a cookie to whoever knows doona, a jackson wang sighting, and so cute, fraternal twins, i almost forgot about the dynamics, jungkook is an actual child, lol, so is changkyun, tae and jimin are twins, which shouldn't really be a surprise, who's freaking adorable
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2019-02-02
Packaged: 2019-04-26 01:20:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 30,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14391189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starburstbebe/pseuds/starburstbebe
Summary: Despite not knowing what a daddy was until roughly two days ago, Jeongguk was positive he had just found his. He couldn’t give up, not after he had actually found him! Now all he had to do was find him again. Easy peasy.





	1. Definition

**Author's Note:**

> Hiii~  
> So for all of you nice people who are following Athazagoraphobia, no I'm not abandoning it!  
> This is just a *ahem* side piece  
> //badum dum tss//  
> Annnnyyywwwaayyyyyyy  
> This has absolutely nothing to do with Atatha. so no one get confused! It's literally just something that's been swirling inside my head since I've been perusing the sad state of the Sope tag. Updates will be slow until I finish Atha so. uh. sorry?

If you asked Jeongguk what a daddy was he couldn’t tell you for two good reasons:

One, he was only eighteen months old and clearly not old enough to be thinking so esoterically let alone respond in kind.

Two, he didn’t have one.

He had a mommy though. He had a great mommy. He could talk to you forever about his mommy. He really could.

Because he loved everything about his mommy. Literally everything. He loved how he smelled, he loved how he held him just right (not too tight like some of the ladies at the daycare), how he played with him, how he could talk to him for hours and hours.

Jeongguk especially loved his mommy’s smiles. Because not everyone got to see them, but he did. And they were perfect. Just like his mommy.

“Jeonkookie?”

The toddler turned away from his building blocks to see his mommy walking over with a pair of socks and a jacket but smiling his secret smile.

“What’s got you thinking so deeply hm? What are you building?” he asked. Jeongguk thought about it, but must’ve forgotten so he just shrugged. His mommy just laughed and picked him up calling him silly but that’s ok because he forgets allot too.

“It means you’re so smart you don’t sweat the small stuff. Never forget that.”

His mommy said that allot some times. And sometimes he did because c’mon, he _just_ started potty training! But he nodded and grinned all the same because it meant he’d get another secret smile and a kiss to his cheeks.

And he loved his mommy’s smiles and kisses.

 

* * *

 

Yoongi’s leg bounced sporadically while his left hand tapped unheard beats on the chair’s armrest as he looked through the one-way mirror of the therapy office. Behind it was Jeongguk playing with a ball rolling and bouncing it towards an older woman who had her hair pulled back in a bun held in place by what looked like a pepero stick. Which couldn’t be right because that would be ridiculous. And messy. But he wasn’t paying attention to whatever fashion misgivings the therapist had, he only had eyes for his little boy.

“Mr. Min?”

Yoongi looked over at the man behind a large oak desk who’s office he’d been dawdling in for the past hour. “Hmm? I’m sorry, did you say something?” The man just sighed but took a minute before responding.

“As I was saying, Jeongguk tests came back clear. He’s a good weight for his age, average height, his teeth have come in very nicely, all in all he looks to be a healthy baby.”

“He doesn’t talk.”

Again, the doctor sighed, this time taking his glasses off to rub his lids with his fingertips.

“Mr. Min, does he speak at home? To you?” Yoongi didn’t even have to think before answering, “of course.”

“Then why are you so perturbed?”

“You don’t think that’s odd? That he never speaks? Never interacts?” the young man snapped, eyes never leaving his child who gave only a small smile at whatever question his therapist asked.

“I don’t know what child you’re looking at Mr. Min, but Jeongguk is a bright if shy little boy. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.”

Yoongi swallowed down the lump that’d been growing in his throat for weeks since making this appointment. For the first time he thought he could actually breathe. “Really? You really think that?” He heard another sigh and this time the soft squeak of an office chair as the doctor stood up and walked over beside him, also now watching his son.

“Do you want something to be wrong with him?” he asked casually causing Yoongi to turn his head quickly to glare and snarl because _the fuck._

“No!”

“Then what is it, Mr. Min? What is it that’s keeping you from accepting that you’ve been raising a healthy and happy little boy?”

Yoongi still glared at him but returned his gaze back to his son without another word. He didn’t come here to get his own head looked at thanks very fucking much. Not to say that Jeongguk needed his but. He worried. And what with those harpies at his fucking daycare always going on about how inattentive he could be or how he never wanted to play with the other kids. How he was peculiar and peculiarity didn't fall far from the tree-

“I’ve read your own file, Mr. Min.”

Silence.

“And?”

“You’ve been an attentive and loving father to your son. Medicine says so and more importantly, I’m sure Jeongguk would say so. Please do not let the words of few outweigh his own.” the doctor intoned quietly and deeply causing their weight to settle right into Yoongi’s bones. Hopefully they would take root there. Hopefully.

“You know, he doesn’t call me dad or daddy.” the young omega finally replied after another short silence.

“Oh?”

“Hm. He calls me mommy.”

 

~~

~~

 

“Ok wow hyung, it took a doctor you barely even know to tell you something I’ve been telling you for like. Two years now for you to finally believe it? Wow. I’m just. I see how much you truly value my friendship.” Yoongi rolled his eyes so far back in his head he was pretty much seeing the past.

“Kihyun you know it’s not like that.”

“Oh really? It’s not? Please explain it then. Don’t worry. I can wait.” Kihyun told him explicitly putting down his fork of dessert to clasp his hands together in front of him like the angel he surely wasn’t. God broke the mold when he made one Yoo Kihyun. And for good fucking reason if you asked any of his friends. Yoongi looked over to his friend’s husband who’d been steadily following the conversation and gave him casual sign of “help me” complete with slight head tilt and widening eyes. What he got in return was the alpha snorting into his cake and basically giving him the “yeah fucking right” eye squint and eyebrow raise. Of course he’d get no help from Jooheon, guy was fucking whipped for his husband and they all knew it.

“I’m waiting~”

“Look, you’re my friend alright? Pretty much my best and only friend-”

“What about me hyung?!”

“Your friendship status is still under review and so far, you haven’t passed muster.” Jooheon gave a dramatic mock gasp as he placed a hand over his wounded heart. Kihyun for once didn’t fall for it.

“Continue.”

“Gah are you really gonna make me..? As my friend, your supposed to tell me the stuff I wanna hear. That I’m doing great, that I’m being an awesome parent, that Gukkie’s lucky to have me but sometimes it’s just nice to. Y’know. Here from someone else. Especially a professional.”

“I’m a lawyer!”

“A _health_ professional Kihyun-ah, you know what I mean.” The other omega still glared petulantly at the other across from him, but it had definitely softened so Yoongi still considered it a win.

“Fine, I guess I can excuse it this time. Despite it all, I’m glad you’re finally moving past this fixation of yours that you weren’t a good parent. A few more months of it and I would’ve pulled an intervention.”

“It’s true hyung. He has a powerpoint presentation and everything.” Jooheon piped in nonchalantly stealing a piece of strawberry from his husband’s plate who just gave him a look of fond exasperation. Yoongi’s heart clenched at the sight of them like it usually did and just like the usual he had to remind himself that it was good for everyone that he not get involved with anyone like that. It wouldn’t be fair to them and least of all Jeongguk.

 

As if summoned, the quick pitter patter of feet interrupted his thought process as he spied his son make his way over to him and place his head near Yoongi’s lap. He didn’t see Changkyun come running after him so he supposed they had either taken a break from a game or playing a new one.

“What is it you want Gukkie, hmm? What are you and Changkyun up to?” he asked the toddler who merely beamed up impishly at him before pointing to the fork of cake he’d yet to eat.

“Wanna bite!” the man raised an amused eyebrow at the demand.

“You wanna bite of my cake?”

“Ye!”

“Didn’t you have cookies with Kyunnie a little while ago after dinner? Now you want some of my dessert?!”

“Ye!”

“Yah! I’m raising a little sugar demon is what I’m doing.” Yoongi grumbled finding it was very hard to look down at Jeonggukk’s large brown eyes as he expectantly stared up at him and the cake. After a few seconds of the battle of the wills, he sighed and scraped off the larger chunk of cake originally on his fork and settled a small dollop of cream with an even smaller piece of strawberry on top and lowered it down to the toddler’s level. It had fruit on it so it couldn’t be all bad right?

“That’s all your getting out of me, you little manipulator.” he swore to the child as they happily gobbled up their sweet with a look that could only be described as “haha, right.”

 

Changkyun used this time to finally appear with a giant plastic something wrapped around him screeching that he’d finally found it. Jooheon was the first one up to catch the little boy who slid into the dining area just barely missing beaning himself on the edge of the table. “Woah, Changkyun! What have we said about running in the house?”

The little boy popped his head out the opening of the plastic sack with an unrepentant grin and eye smiles identical to his chastising father. “Not to, but look daddy! I finally found it!”

“Found what, Changkyun?” Kihyun finally asked with a bemused grin.

“My sleep bag! It’s got Iron Man on it an’ I promised to show Gukkie ‘cos he likes him too but I couldn’t find it ‘till now and I got excited an’ I ran. Sorry.” the boy replied in a rush of words all garbled together and only followed by those who knew him best. And indeed, once Yoongi got a better look at the sack he realized it wasn’t plastic like he originally thought but the usual polyester sleeping bags were made with and yes, it had a giant Iron Man featured on the front standing (or flying based on interpretation) between Captain America and the Hulk. Jeongguk took one look at it and squealed leaving his “mother’s” side and cautiously poking at the bag as if the superheros would suddenly fly off it. Yoongi supposed to a toddler that it was entirely plausible. Jooheon merely shook his head at his high strung child but couldn’t keep the grin off his face as he watched the two boys babble and pet the unraveled bag.

“That was very nice of you, Kyunnie. Maybe you should take it and Gukkie back to your room so you don’t lose it again, ok?” Changkyun responded with a bright beam and brighter “ok!” before walking-not running!-back to room with Jeongguk following close behind. Kihyun finally let loose the snort he’d been holding in once both children were out the room.

“He definitely gets that from you.” The alpha scoffed and took his seat with a soft sigh.

“No way! I’ve seen how you are with your family, that practically screams you!”

“Nuhuh, that level of cuteness only happens every other generation in my family and that went to my brother. Totally you.”

“What, that doesn’t even make sense! Yoongi hyung! What do you think?” Jooheon asked suddenly looking over at their friend.

“The kid’s clearly adopted. Neither of you could’ve possibly been that adorable.”

“HYUNG.”

_“The betrayal!”_

 

~~

~~

 

It’s a wildly popular theory passed down from such movies as “Look Who’s Talking,” “Baby Geniuses,” “Look Who’s Talking Two,” and various E-trade commercials that infants and toddlers had their own separate language indiscernible to adults. It could never be proven because who really remembers the first two years of life after you reach a certain age, and it could never be disproven for the very same point. Still, it was a nice idea.

“Kyunnie?”

“Hmm?”

“What’s a daddy?”

Changkyun had been looking for the bag his sleep bag had been in but instead looked over at his friend who still had the sleeping bag pooled around him but with a weird look on his face. The two-nearly-three-year old thought about it for a few seconds as he tried to come up with an answer.

“Wellll….daddies are always nice even if you’re in trouble. And they’re funny cos they can make you laugh. Umm...they play with you, they hug you when your sad, they protect you from all the bad stuff. And of course, they love you lots and lots.”

Jeongguk’s face scrunched up more as he thought over his friend’s words attempting to make sense of them.

“So, like a mommy?”

“Yeah! But the daddy loves both the mommy and you at the same time.” Changkyun explained before abandoning his search and going to his toy chest. He’d find the bag later, maybe. Just as he had grabbed two of his action heros and were making them compete in mock combat (not to the death because that was mean, whoever lost just had to clean up all the mess), Jeongguk asked, “Where’s my daddy?”

Changkyun had to pause in the middle of a Fire Kick To The Face and think about that since he really didn’t know. He’d met Gukkie’s mommy plenty of times of course they were pretty much family at this point but he never thought about his daddy. In all honesty he’d kinda forgotten he probably had one.

“I think he’s lost.” Changkyun said with complete seriousness as he separated his two figures. Jeongguk took in a deep shocked breath pulling the sleep bag tighter around him.

“Lost?! But how do I find him?” He sounded so sad, Changkyun quickly crawled over to his friend getting in the middle of the draped bag with him cuddling him close.

“It’s ok Gukkie, I’ll help you find him. I’m good at finding daddies. I find mine all the time.” he said puffing his chest out with pride. Jeongguk look up at him with amazement.

“Really?!”

“Yeah, he always hides in the pantry whenever we play.” Changkyun explained shaking his head exasperated. He should probably warn his friend now that daddies were also very odd people but he was sure he’d find that out on his own.

 

* * *

 

Hoseok was warm. He was so warm and comfortable that he really really didn’t want to get up or move around. But he was hearing something creep closer and for once his irrational fear wasn’t making him anxious enough to jump out of bed and find out what it was. If anything he was feeling a sense of...happiness? Begrudging excitement? The steps had come closer now and soon he heard the soft click of a door open and breathing. He waited staying perfectly still as the unseen person climbed up the side of the bed-wait climbed? It was a small person with small hands lifting up the sheets and placing a horrendously cold nose against Hoseok’s collar bone making him whine and collapse upon the tiny being smiling as he heard their muffled giggling. He cuddled the person closer to him taking in a mouthful of hair and the sweet smell of coconut.

He looked down to see large brown eyes staring up at him, shimmering with mischief and other swirled emotions. The boy (he was sure it was a boy) kept giggling before they turned looking away back towards what was believed to be the doorway, and if possible his grin widened. Hoseok himself followed the gaze feeling his own lips turn upwards as he caught a glimpse of fluffy black hair similar to the one in his arms and crinkled smiling eyes.

And then Jung Hoseok woke up to Girls’ Generation _Flower Power_ blaring from his phone.

He blinked his eyes slowly as his alarm kept singing, confused as to why he was staring at his bedroom door and why he felt so disappointed before the images from his dream trickled in and he groaned faceplanting himself into his pillow.

It was the fifth time he’d had a dream like this. It was only his second time getting close to the little boy but it was his first time seeing the newest stranger. All things considered, it was still a really weird dream, the weirdest being that he didn’t even know these people. He’d been around kids before, hell he was even a godfather to his best friend’s twins, but he swore he’d never seen a little boy looking like that in his entire life. The newest stranger was also included in “people he was 99.9% sure he’d never met before.” This was really getting out of hand. One or maybe two dreams, he could possibly blame it on the sketchy days old sushi his common sense had told him not to eat. But three or more times? Even Namjoon who was a born skeptic and pretty much the most intelligent person he’d ever been lucky enough to meet would say there was meaning behind it.

 

_Atte ni narenai ga dekinai adabana._

_Ano ko ni mo smile hito nomi wo serve. Do you wanna be my lover?_

_Do you wanna be my lover?_

_Do you wanna be my lover?_

 

Fortunately or unfortunately, now was not the time for him to start deliberating his mental status. When he got to the second chorus, Hoseok knew he only had a few more minutes before he’d truly start running late for work.

~~

~~

An hour later Hoseok, called Hobi by close friends, walked into the large lobby of his office building. It was a recently built structure that held at least a dozen different agencies all under one gigantic roof. Hoseok worked primarily on the fifth floor as a travel agent and was, humbly, pretty darn good at his job. In college he’d realized he had a knack for foreign languages and ended up minoring almost accidentally in Linguistics as a result. His professors had told him he could easily work for the government as a translator or even a foreign ambassador but none of that really interested him. Sure he enjoyed travelling and seeing the world but he also enjoyed showing it to other people. His favorite part of the job was detailing a travel location and watching the client’s eyes widen and sparkle for adventure. Plus the pay was damn good.

Glancing at his watch he saw that he had a few extra minutes before he had to be in the office and decided to treat himself to a coffee from a nearby kiosk. While waiting in line, Hoseok’s eyes trailed over people rushing to their different offices and jobs, some already on the phone with supposed important people or perhaps just a friend, maybe even their family. A jolt runs through him as he remembers the scene from his dreams which leaves him even more confused and disgruntled as the time passes because why was this happening to him now?

Had it been a year ago when his older sister got mated and started preparing for a pregnancy, he might’ve understood. He’d heard enough from his mother how the sands of time were quickly piling on top of him, which soooo helped his overall fear of being buried alive btw. But it wasn’t from lack of trying; Hoseok had gone on plenty of dates, dated a handful or people, even fallen in love once or twice, none of it ever ended where he wanted it to be.

Who cares if his best friend was the same age as he was but already had a mate and two kids? Who cares that his own sister was now expecting with her own? He was happy with his slot in life; he was the carefree godfather to two rambunctious toddlers who he could spoil without abandon or consequence, beyond Jin hyung’s ominous threats, and he was going to do the same to whatever child came out his sister. Ugh. Ok. No. Not going to think about it like that. From, from his sister. That sounded a bit better. The line was moving at a quick enough pace but still his eyes kept roaming until he landed on something familiar. If the jolt from earlier was particularly jarring, the lightning bolt that struck Hoseok should’ve vaporized him because right there.

_The little boy was right there._

It was him, even meters apart with people milling in between he could tell that this was the exact same boy from his dreams. Except he wasn’t so much a little boy as he was an infant. Toddler maybe? Whatever the correct term was, he was right there in a window staring right back at him with the same doe brown eyes that were a recurring theme in his dreams. Hoseok was staring so intently he didn’t realize he had created a giant gap in line until the man behind him angrily told him to move up or just move.

So he did, and against better judgement, walked over to the window of what appeared to be the building’s daycare center. He’d never paid much attention to it since why would he and only knew that, according to a few women he worked it, it was a complete lifesaver in regards to other care facilities. Now he wish he knew a little more about it but currently he was too busy taking in the presence of the Dream Child. He was small, smaller than the twins so that meant he had to be younger right?, but he was also very cute.

Like insanely cute.

His eyes took up most of his face reminding him of Precious Moments dolls he’d seen online with a tiny button nose and lips that was currently set to a tiny adorable pout and dark brown hair who’s ends lightly curled and ended at the tips of ears that Hoseok instinctively knew would undoubtedly be the softest thing he’d ever felt. He finally noticed that throughout his staring that the toddler had been staring back at him and instead of crying or running away actually seemed to be scrutinizing him. At least that's what it felt like.

He standing on his own without a walker so that meant...what. He was old enough to run but still couldn’t? He was bad at the aging process. Hoseok took note that he’d probably been staring too long to be appropriate and that he was also more than likely about to be late to work and turned to walk away when he heard a tap. He turned back to see the toddler with using his tiny hand to slap against the window and pushing his cheeks against the glass squishing them out of proportion. Basically just being the most adorable thing Hoseok had ever seen outside of baby animals at the zoo.

“Aish, don’t do that, you don’t know where that’s been.” Hoseok softly scolded the tot who had come closer to the window and was now crouched at a similar height. The baby didn’t react like he’d heard him so he used one finger to lightly tap at the glass where his cheek was pressed.

“Stop that, who knows what’s on this thing.” he told him having heard that same phrase repeated at him most of his childhood. Thankfully the child listened to him, or got bored, and lifted his face off the glass but moved his hand over to where Hoseok’s finger was. Inquisitively, he tapped on the glass again with his finger and softly laughed as the toddler responded with his own answering smacks. “You’re really cute, you know that?”

Smack.

“Ah, I bet people tell you that all the time huh.”

Smack smack.

“No? What a world we live in. Well you are, very cute I mean.”

Smack smack.

“Me too? I prefer devilishly handsome but it’s the thought that counts.”

Smack.

By now the babe was full on grinning up at him with his tiny teeth on display leaving Hoseok to respond in kind. The clocktower loudly signaled the beginning of a new hour along with raising awareness as to how late Hoseok was.

“Shit, I gotta go! Bye little one!” Hoseok didn’t turn back once as he got up and started running to the nearest elevator. If he had he would’ve seen the baby’s face scrunch up and his smacks become more frequent while big brown eyes try to follow his movement.

 

* * *

 

Despite not knowing what a daddy was until roughly two days ago, Jeongguk was positive he had just found his. The man had been nice and funny just like Changkyun had said! And even though his smile wasn’t like his mommy’s, it was still nice and bright like his were. But then he left and he has no idea where he could even be! Jeongguk huffed and flopped down onto the padded carpet restlessly patting the ground beside him. He couldn’t give up, not after he had actually found him! Now all he had to do was find him again. Easy peasy.


	2. Chance Encounters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yoongi meets his boss and Hoseok tries not to seem creepy

The life of a single parent was not all that the drama’s implied, both the good and bad. Did he have less money that most of his peers? Yup. Was he always tired? Abso-fucking-lutely. Was he lonely and desperate for companionship? Yoongi paused his pen over the given answer choices to think. It was hard to fully appreciate being lonely when there was an over attentive toddler always grappling for attention or a best friend always ordering him over under the guise of a playdate. So he thinks he could honestly say no. 

Companionship was also something to think about. Do they mean company in like, another adult in the room or company as in another adult in the  _ bed _ room. Considering that he’d been in self-inflicted celibacy for the past 3 years he wouldn’t say he was “desperate” but he also wouldn’t turn down a good time at the right time. He had standards dammit, but he also had a son to think about. So he reluctantly circled the choice for “Not looking but not saying no either.” Doing a magazine quiz as he waited in the foyer of his boss' office was probably not the best way to make the best impression but it was either do this or keep tapping on his legs and risk the ire of the secretary. She’d been giving him looks since he walked saying he had an appointment and had increased the volumes of her huffs and sighs as his nerves got the better of him. So in order to not ask her if she was auditioning for the starring role of a jilted lover he grabbed the nearest object and focused all his attention on it. 

Luckily for him, and he says this ironically, the issue was about single parents and how there was a rise of them and the startling acceptance of them, blah blah blah. The news polls could say what they want, Yoongi still knows what kind of stares he gets when he walks into a supermarket with Jeongguk on his hip and no mating mark on his neck. The quiz he was taking was to find out which single parent drama he was and he had a feeling he’d probably get  _ Blade Man _ . After calculating his answers with the corresponding numbers, Yoongi found that he was actually  _ Five Enough _ . Huh. At least it wasn’t  _ Ho Goo’s Love _ , then he’d feel some way about it. 

“Mr. Min? Mr. Kim will see you now.” 

Yoongi placed the magazine back where he found it and straightened his suit as he stood to hide the nervous twitch of his fingers. He had only been working for this company for the last sixth months but this would be the first time he actually met the guy who signed his checks. Which to him was cause for confusion and apprehension since why would the boss need to see a lowly marketer like him unless something really bad had happened and his name was attached? His face betrayed none of this though, having long mastered the technique of the RBF, and only offered a quiet thank you before walking into office. It was a standard bigwig office with large windows behind a bold wooden desk with two short armchairs placed in front of it with bookshelves lining the walls. The things that broke the pattern of monotony were the posterboards of party plans laid against the loveseat, a whiteboard that looked recently used by the streak marks still there directly in front of the desk and what he was pretty sure were Mario and Nintendo figurines littered among the books on the shelves. Yoongi didn't see or sense anyone else in the room until he heard a soft cough come from behind the desk startling and confusing him. How long had he been standing around looking like an idiot? Thankfully though, the young man looked more amused than annoyed which he would graciously accept.

“Mr. Min, I’m glad you could take the time to meet with me. Please, have a seat.” he smiled and offered nodding towards one of the armchairs. Yoongi swallowed to moisten his mouth and throat and followed through trying not to groan at the softness below him. The fuck, were the cushions made of clouds and children’s dreams?

“I’m so sorry for the wait, I had to deal with an impromptu disagreement before it got out of hand. Now, to rid you of your worries I want to elaborate that no, you’re not being let go. Far from it actually. I’ve been hearing nothing but good things from your supervisor regarding your work goals and customer satisfaction.” Yoongi let out a sigh of solid relief not even minding the quiet chuckles coming from his boss. That was at least one less thing to worry about. 

“Thank you for that Mr. Kim, but if you don’t mind me asking, why am I here then?” he asked slowly trying to make sure he worded it correctly. 

“In good time. First I would like to know what you enjoy about working here.” Oh God, it was going to be one of those interviews. Yoongi could literally feel his brain start to shutter while his mouth opened to give casual productive praise but was stopped before he could.

“Please, no useless drivel about it being an honor, a gift, worthwhile experience, or whatever you were going to nicely pull from your rectum. I want the honest truth spoken simply if you be so kind.” The man was still smiling but now he could see a bit of steel behind his brown eyes and grudgingly enough, Yoongi could feel his respect for him growing. 

“Honest truth? I don’t mind working here or being part of outreach or helping to bring more customers to our business or any of the other trivial things that my task sheet says I do. What I do mind is being talked down to or being treated like I’m a child just because I happen to be one of the oldest in the office.” 

Yoongi never thought he’d be working for a party planning company (or a reception organization enterprise as he’d been told at orientation) if only because he hadn’t thought he’d be qualified and because he was led to believe he would actually have to talk to people which was a no-go in his books. But he had been desperate for a job and, quite frankly, there was almost nothing he could really do with a music education degree except perhaps teach music, which of course no one was hiring for. Kihyun had been the one to point him in the direction of Atlas Reception since they had helped with a fundraiser at his law firm and had nothing but good things to say, which for him was practically unheard of, and had overheard that they were hiring. Yoongi, having nothing better checking out and feeling the financial burden of everyday life applied and was surprised to not only get an interview but a job offer. And then he figured out why. 

He was put in a cramped office space with twenty other fresh faced graduates who basically fielded calls from customers and other department workers to each other making sure they all flowed and everything was in order. Basically a glorified operator with bare minimum benefits. The pay was decent, he never had to actually dress up before going into work (or actually go to the office at all since most of the time he could do this stuff at home), but what had him pissed off was how some of the workers reacted to him. An unmated omega in a workplace wasn’t an abnormal sight and hadn’t been since about the 1940s but you know. Who said discrimination was progressive? And don’t even get him started on the sly digs and remarks about his age like that bitch Chung-jae wasn’t just two years younger than him. 

Yoongi of course said none of this since despite the man’s earlier words there was a fine line between practical honesty and knockdown full out dragging. Still, the man didn’t look angry although he did look annoyed which had Yoongi backtracking a bit.

“I could just be being overly sensitive though, you don’t have to take my words into consideration.” His boss looked over at him with a raised eyebrow.  

“Mr. Min-Yoongi if I may? How can I trust that you’re doing your best if you work in a hostile environment?” Yoongi winced at the description since he hadn’t wanted to go that far. 

“I know you may not see it that way but I do. Atlas is a company that prides itself on showing the best out of everyone, and I do mean everyone. Which is why I was so confused as to see someone with your credentials in the operating room of all places.” Ha. So even the boss thought of the job as such. 

Yoongi nearly shrugged but aborted the action midway leading him to grimace. “My degree is in musical education which isn’t at an all time high and I needed the work. It’s not really that big of a deal.” He winced again as he slipped into casual speech and was once again confused as to the level of calmness he felt around the other man. 

Mr. Kim for the most part however looked please at the slip up and allowed a more generous smile to grace his face which made his features look even younger and (grudgingly Yoongi could admit it) more handsome. 

“A degree is still a degree, no matter what its emphasis. Plus even if we were to disregard your higher education, your work experience is clearly out of league for where you are.” Again he had to stop another shrug while his eyes narrowed at the line of questioning. Hadn’t he said this wasn’t about him?

“This has been nice and all, Mr. Kim, but could you please tell me why I’m actually here?” The man’s smile widened, if that were even possible. 

“Yes. I want you to be my new personal assistant.” Yoongi looked at him like he was out of his mind, which judging by the amount of video game paraphernalia, he was kinda close.

“Me? Why? I’m sure there’s other more qualified people here who would jump at this chance.” Here the man sighed, as if becoming disappointed at Yoongi’s words and stood up from his seat which fuck him, the guy had to be nearly six fucking feet tall. 

“I’m sure you’ve realized how comfortable you’ve felt in my presence? Why you haven’t felt on edge or apprehensive?” the man lead, walking forward to pause in front of Yoongi’s chair. The omega had, or was, but now he was starting to feel his apprehension come back at the man’s tone.

“Why?” he repeated. “Is it something you’ve done? Something about this room?” Yoongi refused to look up at the man and could feel his breathing come out in gasps and his palms become sweaty. What kind of sick mind games was this fucker trying to play? He jumped when he felt something cold brush against his hands, looking up partially to see that it was a bottle of water then following it up to his boss who looked sad and apologetic.  

“I am so sorry Mr. Min. I didn’t mean for that to come out the way it did. I only meant that, you know, I understand how hard it is to feel comfortable around other people. Especially other omegas.” Here Yoongi’s head snapped up quick unable to process what he just heard.

“You, you’re-?” his boss nodded with a small smile, not as bright as his previous ones. Suddenly he was noticing more about the man; how he could see the barest hint of mating mark sticking out of his collar (the thing had to be a beast if it was still poking out), the glint of a ring on his left hand and now that he was actively looking at his desk, besides all the paperwork were accordian style frames with different people in each one. Two toddlers taking up most of the space. They were pretty cute too.

“Thank you, what they lack in decorum they at least make up in appearance.” came a sly response from his boss, which had Yoongi guessing he had said the last part out loud. Shit. He opened his mouth to apologize but it was waved away as Mr. Kim took the other armchair beside him. 

“It’s a joke I like to make, especially since they’ve passed the terrible two milestone. I hadn’t believed all the horror stories before but now, I’m pretty sure I could actually write a few more.” he chuckled causing Yoongi to relax just a bit.

“Mr. Kim-”

“Seokjin please. Or just Jin.”

“Seokjin-ssi. I’m...honored at the job offer but. I don’t know if I should accept.” Jin’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. “Why do you think that Mr. Min?”

“Yoongi, if we’re being polite.” he interrupted with a slight grin bolstered by the one he got in return. “I just want to make sure you’re offering me this job based on my qualifications and your trust that I would do a good job and not just because you feel sorry or pity me. I get enough of that as it is. Sir.” he added as an afterthought while his hands fiddle with the plastic ring around the neck of the water bottle. Jin looked offended for a few seconds then his expression shuttered to confusion and bemusement. 

“Ah, I see. You don’t know your supervisor recommended you for the job.” he said plainly before becoming concerned when Yoongi began to choke on air.

“That bas-Yorhui-ssi did that?” he flushed at his almost blunder though was surprised to see that Jin laughed at it. And he was surprised by how squeaky the man’s laughter was, good lord he sounded like a dry windshield wiper. 

“I agree that ‘‘bastard’ is a very correct term for him so don’t feel bad for your slip. He’s a leftover from my father’s days of running the company and honestly, I really wish he had left with the others.” Yoongi had joined the company after the fact but had heard about the massive walkout of people once the company had been handed down to the son. 

Apparently their main belief was that he wasn’t qualified and would run the company into the ground. Now he knew it was just some outdated sense of alpha/beta superiority. He found himself feeling bad for the man for all of five seconds before remembering that in the five years since it happened, Atlas had only climbed in stock prices and was one of the most sought after reception agencies in the Gyeonggi region. He had thrived where other people were sure he’d fail and managed to have a family along with it. Little by little, Yoongi could feel his respect and, dare he say it, admiration growing for the other man. 

“Regardless, he might have come into my office talking about a certain worker and I might’ve pulled up said worker’s file and had to agree that he definitely was not a proper fit in that department.” Jin explained with a bright tone of voice causing Yoongi to snort. 

“You don’t say.” he intoned drolly causing Jin to break out into another fit of laughter. 

“I knew I’d like you Yoongi-ssi. Your impressive customer service reports, how you’ve kept a cool head considering the mess you’ve had to work with, I can’t think of anyone else I’d like to offer this position to.” Jin told him earnestly making sure to meet the other’s gaze. Yoongi flushed lightly but allowed a small smile to worm its way onto his face at the compliments. 

“If you don’t know already, I have a son. So I won’t be able to work too late some days.” he slowly started before his boss waved away his concerned. “I’ve got a family to get home to as well Yoongi-ssi, believe me when I say we’ll be helping each other. By the way, how old is your son?”

“He’s...eighteen months? He’ll be two in September.” Yoongi said with a proud grin. Jin clapped his hands excitedly. “He may be a bit young, but I know the boys would love to have a playdate if you’d allow it. They’ll probably be seeing more of each other anyway once you officially become my assistant.” he concluded blithely, like the other man wouldn’t take him up on his job offer (which yeah, he wasn’t dumb). 

“I think he’d like that too. Besides my godson and I think one other baby in the daycare he hasn’t made much friends. Sorta takes after his mum I guess.” Yoongi said lightly ignoring the sharp pain in his chest when he thought about how others talked about his son’s oddities.

“Oh! You call yourself a mom too! I don’t get why I’m not supposed to take pride in my position as a mother just because I happen to also be a male. It doesn’t make any sense!” Jin became incensed and began ranting about the injustice of it all while waving and making dramatic gestures with his hand and water bottle and all Yoongi could think was that he’d definitely made the right call. 

* * *

 

 

Hoseok spent the rest of the week and most of the next trying to be a normal human being and not seem like a creepy pedophile by always checking the window of his office daycare for the mystery little boy. The day of their first encounter, he’d had to wait until a lag (summer months meant vacations which meant more work but bigger payouts) before he could question the few parents he worked with about the daycare downstairs. After pulling a lie directly from the inner ring of his anus, they’d told him that the daycare was only applicable to those who worked in the building and its hours lasted as long as most workers so they were almost never late picking up their child which was a real key issue in other daycares. All that meant to him was that the mysterious new man from his dreams was also somewhere in the building. But considering there were several floors and more than a hundred people employed there, the odds, unlike in the Hunger Games, were not in his favor. (not counting that awful ending because Hobi didn’t and will, much to the chagrin of his friends, stop the movie right before that horrible awful part because  _ howdarethey _ ) As the days passed and he didn’t catch another glimpse of his dream toddler he tried to stay optimistic but he also knew the likelihood of them meeting like before were slim to none. So while he kept his eye out, he also tried not to let his heart dip too deep when it never happened. 

Hoseok, for once, had a relatively free Saturday and decided to adult by checking off some much needed doing chores. The most prevalent of those being grocery shopping since it’d been long established with his godsons’ parents that they wouldn’t allow them over if all he had in his kitchen was ramyun and coco pops. Grocery shopping was also one of his least liked chores so he tried to only do it about once to twice a month if he could stretch it, but even he was starting to tire of his fast food rations. So he headed out before noon making sure to bring along an umbrella (it’d been threatening to rain for the past two days, he was taking no chances) and got to work. He stopped making an actual shopping list because he would either forget it or still not follow it, so now he just walked through every aisle and grabbing things he needed. He was near the produce section when he remembered Jin saying he needed to have more fruits and vegetables available for the twins when they came over (he knew he couldn’t trust TaeTae to keep a secret to where he got those choco pies from) so with a sigh he made a beeline. 

He had just grabbed a net back of tangerines when he heard a gruff voice say, “No Gukkie, a ten-for-nine deal on banana milk is not a good sale” and heard some affronted squawking in reply. The exchange made Hoseok smile and caused him to giggle quietly when he also heard “I could go out and buy a banana cow at a better price, and they don’t even exist!”  to more excited babbling. He continued his shopping ending up in front of the dairy case trying to remember if it was vanilla or strawberry Jimin had said to be his favorite when he felt a tug at the bottom of his jeans. Hoseok looked down and nearly dropped the milks in his hands at seeing the mystery toddler in front of him. 

Everything about him was the same (cute chubby cheeks, large brown eyes, adorable scrunched up nose) except today he was dressed in a pair of blue overalls with cookie monster front and center on his chest and a yellow striped shirt underneath and brown sandals on his feet. All in all, he was still the same ridiculously adorable kid Hoseok had been  casually searching for. The kid was looking up at him with a pleased expression on his face and began babbling at him in weird cute toddler language and kept a tight hold on his pant leg. 

“Not that I’m not happy to see you again, but you couldn’t have gotten here on your own. Where’s your mummy, hm?” Hoseok asked putting away the milks and closing the dairy case. He tried to look around for a frantic parent noticing their missing child when he felt hard continuous tugs on his leg and looked back  down to see the kid with an arm raised in the universal signal of “up” while the other was still locked around his leg. Hoseok felt like he was walking a tightrope. “Seriously? I’m a stranger. What if I eat kids?!” he tried to explain but it apparently fell on deaf ears at the babe kept looking up at him expectantly. With a weary sigh and a silent prayer for his immortal soul, he bent down and picked the toddler up somewhat surprised by his healthy weight and tried not to think about how easily he settled in his arms or how an imaginary weight had been lifted off his chest. 

“I guess I’d better take you to the front. I’m sure they’d know how to find your parents.” Hoseok told the little boy who wasn’t paying him any attention instead still blathering on about whatever while now clinging to his shirt. He caught a couple of real words in his stream so he was definitely older than a year then, right? 

“Mommy!”

“Yeah, we’re gonna go find your mommy!”

“Who the hell are you?!” Hoseok started at the angry tone directed at him and turned to see a short visibly angry man glaring at him and the dangerous spicy scent he was giving off was...ohshit. A pissed off omega and he was holding their kid. Shit, he was going to be disemboweled just like the old days, he just knew it. 

“O-oh hey! Hi! This is your son right? I found him, or really he found me actually, and um I was just about to take him to the front so they could find you. Honest! I swear!” Hoseok babbled raising the arm not full of toddler in the air in total placation. The other man was still glaring at him but the spicy scent wasn’t as potent as before which meant he would thankfully live another day. He took a few short steps forward and stooped down a little to offer the toddler back who was still talking brightly not knowing the danger he’d nearly put his new friend in and happily went into the arms of his mother. Once the omega had his child, an off switch seemed to go on and the danger level dropped automatically allowing Hoseok to breathe in relief. The young man looked over his child minutely and seemed to deem him acceptable before turning a blank look to Hoseok. 

“Thanks for not being a pedophilic creep I’d have to tear the nuts off of, I guess.” he told him plainly causing the alpha to cough on his surprised laughter. 

“Thank you for not tearing them off before I could explain.” he said in return with a bright grin. The other just hmm’d before turning his ire onto his son, but Hoseok could see it wasn’t as bad as what he would’ve gotten. “And you! I swear to God I’m gonna get one of those dumb leash things, you took about ten years off my life you ninja. What do you have to say for yourself, hn?” The toddler, finally noticing the serious look on his mother’s face, scrunched his face up in confusion before turning to Hoseok. 

“Him frwiend.” he informed them. 

Both men were startled at the bluntly stated title though for separate reasons. Hoseok wanted to point out they’d only met once but decided that he’d been close enough to death for one day and liked to avoid the return trip and wisely kept his mouth shut. He did however watch in amusement as the parent and child had a cute argument over the fact and noticed how similar the two were with their scrunched noses and pouty looks. And beneath the other’s beanie, he could see a few escaped strands of inky black hair which just drove on him his earlier deduction that the mystery man, this omega apparently, and the mystery baby were connected. Related would actually be a better term for it he guessed. “Ok, I’m just, gonna, go? I guess?” Hoseok told them taking a few steps back before the toddler whipped his head and around and actually  _ whined _ at him like. What was he supposed to do with that! 

“No!”

“Gukkie, you gotta let the guy get back to shopping.”

“No!”

“Jeongguk!”

“No!”

“Min Jeonggu-!”

“No! Him stay!”

Once again, both men found themselves struck dumb at a toddler’s declaration and but this time the omega just gave a weary sigh and looked over at the other. 

“Would you mind a bratty toddler joining your grocery run?” he asked tonelessly while said bratty toddler beamed at him. What kind of question was that?

“The more the merrier!” 

 

~~

~~

 

Shopping with a man you literally just met due to you finding his son and said son being weirdly adamant that they stay together was awkward to say the least. Once the toddler, Jeongguk Hoseok now knew, was strapped into the cart and not the attached plastic car (“I didn’t even notice he had undid the straps” the other had groaned) so his parent could keep a better eye on him, they followed in Hoseok’s rather strange ritual of shopping. 

“Seriously? Every aisle?” the man, Yoongi after the second aisle trip had supplied, asked as they started their fourth trip.

“Yeah. It’s to make sure I don’t forget anything.” Hoseok defended looking around blushing when he realized he’d ended up in the baby aisle avoiding the other’s knowing smug look. 

“Isn’t that what lists are for?”

“I’d just forget it.”

“Oh. I couldn’t do that. I get distracted enough by the ninja here.” Yoongi remarked in his deep voice and slurred satoori which did not fit his cute short stature and doll face at all. But he really dug it. 

“Ha, yeah I can see that. My friend has two and he’s always telling me their adventures when he has to take them shopping with him.” Hoseok chuckled thinking of how bone tired Namjoon sometimes sounded on the phone when recounting the tales. Yoongi gave a dramatic shiver as looked thoughtfully at some applesauce pouches. 

“Your friend must be superhuman, I don’t think I could handle two at the same time.” Hoseok openly laughed thinking of how tall dorky alpha would take such a compliment. He’d probably blush all the way down to the tips of his toes. After that the conversation wasn’t as painfully stilted and flowed a little easier. It was still awkward, there was no changing that, but now they both looked like they weren’t going to bolt towards the exit at any given time. 

J eongguk was, of course, loving every second of it and living for Hoseok’s attention which had Yoongi fake sighing that his son was a drama king. And giving Hoseok odd looks every now and then when he thought the other wasn’t paying attention. After getting everything both sets needed and getting through the queue, with Hoseok waiting patiently for the single parent to get all his bags put into a portable tote after getting his own, they both stood awkwardly outside the store with their hands full. They both looked over at the other trying to decide who should speak first.

“Hn. Thanks for, you know, humoring the kid. You didn’t have to.” Yoongi bit the bullet speaking first looking at Hoseok from the corner of his eyes. Hoseok beamed wanting to internally squeal at how cute the omega was unknowingly being but stomped it down hard. 

“It was fine, made my Saturday that much more entertaining.” he admitted easily looking over at Jeongguk who was obediently holding his mother’s hand. Yoongi offered him a small smile and nod before having them say their goodbyes with a “see you around” and it took everything out of Hoseok to not reply with a “definitely.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooooooow. Wow wow wow. You guys are amazing!  
> I didn't think so many people would be interested in this but all your hits and comments practically blew me away!  
> Like I said, updates for this will be kind of slow as my main story is Athazagoraphobia but I'll definitely have to perhaps make this story it's own update schedule to keep everyone satisfied.


	3. Day of Surprises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yoongi accepts a request and Jeongguk makes some friends

“We’ve still have a few more minutes left in our meeting if anyone else has something to share?”

Yoongi kept his eyes glued to cheap 3-in-1 coffee held in his hands not making any eye contact with their group leader hoping, praying, that someone else would talk. This week’s meeting had gone alright compared to others even though not everyone had been able to come. Mishil had finally come clean to her mother about her pregnancy and had gone back home to Incheon for help with the remaining months of pregnancy which was definitely the high point of today. The low point had been seeing Hoon once again arrive with a fresh set of bruises and eye bags the size of Asia holding his son and all their possessions in a depressingly light duffle bag. Thankfully Jackson had gotten one look of him and taken him under his wing. 

All of them had their horror stories of abandonment, abuse, or both but Jackson was still their special case having actually been mated to his abuser and just recently severed the bond. Korea might be technologically advance but it was still behind the times in regards to basic fucking decency it seemed, especially in terms of breaking mate bonds. Not for the first time was Yoongi thankful he’d never accepted Cheol’s bite despite his flowery pleas because having seen first hand how hard it was to break one, especially if the bond resulted in a child. Jackson had gotten lucky but it had still been hard fought and he hadn’t escaped without some battle scars, emotionally and physically. Yoongi wasn’t sure if Hoon was actually bonded to Jun-Seo’s other parent but God help him if he was.

“Yoongi, you’ve been especially quiet this session. Do you have anything you wish to share?” 

Yoongi was startled from his thoughts by their group leader, an older woman long black hair always tied back in a braid that would hang over her left shoulder. In his early angry days, he had wanted to use the braid and throw her against a wall until she stopped asking him questions he didn’t or couldn’t answer. Now he was much milder in temperament and only occasionally  thought of bodily harm. “Um. I got a promotion at work? That was pretty cool.” he related with a shrug hunching forward slightly as congratulatory and applause sounded the small room. 

“That’s very good news indeed! And Jeongguk? Has he been adjusting well to the daycare?” Yoongi shrugged as he stared down at the now cold coffee swirling its contents. “Well as expected.” 

Jackson snorted from the seat beside him. “So not at all?” Yoongi shot the taller omega a dry look but even he couldn’t stop the accompanying huff of laughter. “Exactly. Apparently kid’s got a helluva glare.” he said with only the barest hint of pride. Bare minerals bare. Again Jackson giggled having caught the tone which yeah, Yoongi was proud on two points now. It’d taken the group a year as a whole to get the man to give something other than that fake wan smile or even a mild shrug so for him to actually laugh was major brownie points. Though he was positive he couldn’t take all the credit; he was sure the tall guy always accompanying him to group had something to do with it as well. 

“Well if there’s nothing else, we can adjourn for this week. Reminders, our biannual drive is in a few weeks so if you know anyone willing to donate or help out, please give them my number and as always, my door is permanently open if you ever need me.” Yoongi huffed in relief that the meeting was over so he could finally get up and stretch his legs as well as dispose of his disgusting coffee. Most of the group were saying their final goodbyes to Mishil, Hoon was in a rather serious discussion with Jackson and their group leader, and the rest like him were leaving and discussing getting a decent cup of coffee from the cafe next door. He was pretty sure Doona hadn’t intended on her support group to be so heavily dependent on the stuff, which was the only reason Yoongi would accept since she always brought swill when there was a perfectly decent place a few feet away. 

He nodded to the crabby janitor who didn’t return the gesture and went on his way to the adjoining room where the children were being watched over. Someone had put on Zootopia and most of the kids were either enthralled in the cartoon world or asleep with his own somewhere in the middle.  Kunpimook, or Bambam as he was affectionately known, was wide awake and heavily into the movie right beside him and was the first to notice Yoongi with a wide gap toothed grin and exclamation. He gave the kid a returning grin before picking up Jeongguk who made a soft sleepy noise before lolling his head into the crook of his mother’s neck. At least he wouldn’t have to fight him to go to bed tonight. He heard another exclamation from the toddler and turned to see Jackson still smiling but looking more wan and tired. Hoon’s circumstance probably opened up a pandora’s box of unsettled emotions and if anything, Yoongi could probably get a phd in that he understood it so well. “How’s he doing?” Neither one needed clarification on who he meant. 

“He’ll be alright in the long run I think. It helps that he wasn’t actually mated yet, just talking about it when this happened. Which is really a shitty thing to say if you really think about it because seriously, how much does that say about our system when we’re thankful someone’s not tied to a complete fucking prick who beats them?!” Jackson huffed before coloring at his barrage of words and went to apologize before Yoongi knocked it away. 

“I get what you mean, and yeah it is shitty. But at least he’s got people to help him.” he told the other with a meaningful look rolling his eyes as the other blushed more stammering his thanks. They talked some more, quietly as to not disturb the other children and a sleeping Jeongguk, as Jackson picked up his own son (who made complaints that he was going to miss the movie though he already owned a copy and had watched it at least a dozen times a day) and made their way out the building. The crabby janitor mumbled under his breath as they passed but they paid him no mind as they exited and noted it was later in the evening than they originally thought. Yoongi also noticed that the familiar tall man leaning against a car parked on the street waiting for them and visibly brighten when he spotted them. Probably not them but really one of them, the one that was huffing and grumbling about certain people couldn’t listen and really it’s not like it was raining like last time before turning back to Yoongi. “Do you need a ride? I think he has a spare car seat in the trunk or or you could just hold him and we’ll go real slow-” Yoongi shook his head before the other could even finish his thoughts. 

“We’ll be fine.”

Same question met with the same answer each time he asked. The only times he ever took up the offer was when it was raining too hard for him to object which had only happened twice so far in the years they’ve been in group. Jackson knew this and just gave him a wan smile and an awkward hug which Yoongi begrudgingly accepted before joining the man at the car. Yoongi paused for a moment to place face masks on both of them, black for him a teddy bear face for his son, before starting their usual trek home. It was only a few blocks but the constant ebb and flow of traffic always made it seem like it lasted a lot longer than the usual half hour. He sometimes used a stroller on days he felt leisurely but most of the time it ended up like this; Jeongguk asleep or nearly there in his arms and Yoongi lost to his thoughts. Leaving group always had him feeling some sort of way and he used the walk to gather and process his feelings so he wasn’t left with the need to force them away or worse, deal with them by other means. He was damn proud of his sobriety and nothing short of being annexed by North Korea would make him slip if he had anything to say about it. Still, temptation was everywhere and always working out and training waiting for the next time it could hit him out of nowhere and leave him winded and desperate. Low points like those were few and far between thankfully and what usually helped was focusing on what he had and what he had to lose. And maybe a few of those breathing and mental exercises Doona prescribed. 

He was startled out of his thoughts by his cellphone buzzing in his pocket still stuck on vibrate from earlier. He pulled it out and looked at the caller ID confused as to why his boss would be calling so late and answered after another second of deliberation. “Hello?”

“Yoongi-ssi! I’m so sorry to call you this late but it’s important I tell you now rather than surprising you with it tomorrow. My husband so magnanimously related to me that tomorrow the twins’ daycare is closed and that he’ll be in closed shoots all day.” Yoongi had yet to actually meet Seokjin’s bonded but he’s been told enough about him to know he probably imagined he had told his bonded and literally forgot having done this plenty of times to Seokjin’s commiseration.  Namjoon was a fashion designer, an unorthodox job position for an alpha but apparently fit the man to a T. He worked with an up and coming firm and had to take any and all jobs that came his way and could spend countless hours, days, even weeks lost in his creative mindspace which is probably how this circumstance happened. 

“Ah, I’m sorry that happened but what does that have to do with me?” He didn’t get an immediate response and instead heard indiscernible talking, one voice being Seokjin’s and the other being significantly softer so he assumed it was one of his sons. Yoongi readjusted his hold on his son and his phone as he waited for a walking light and nearly dropped the latter once his boss’ loud voice erupted from the earpiece. 

“Right! So! This means I’ll have to bring them with me to the office for the morning but unfortunately I won’t be able to watch them after nine because-” Yoongi groaned.

“Because of your meeting with the new caterer and your beginning talks with the Ibarra Group, shi-oot.” Yoongi slipped up with a wince as Seokjin just chuckled.

“Exactly! Both those meetings shouldn’t take too long but it does mean I’ll be out of the office a good part of the morning leaving the boys there.”

“With me.” the assistant finished with a soft sigh as the light turned green. “So basically what you’re telling me, Seokjin-ssi, is that you want me to babysit your kids for the morning.”

“I know, I’m horrible! But I swear, after I get back I’ll take us all out to eat and by then the twins’ godfather should be done with work and he can take them the rest of the day! And you can even bring Jeongguk up with you so they can meet and get acquainted! Please please please, I know I’m asking so much out of you!” Yoongi sighed again at his boss’ pleading cajoling tone having already folded after hearing he could bring his son with him (like the clingy hover parent that he was) but couldn’t let the other man know this. He pretended to hum in thought as he crossed the street. 

“Make it the place with the lamb kebabs for lunch and I’ll do it.” he finally offered before having the old the phone away from his ear from the high decibel level squeal. 

“Thank you thank you thank you so much Yoong-ssi! I’ll owe you one, well more two since there’s two of them but you get my point. I’ll make sure you won’t regret this!” the single parent snorted quietly to himself but didn’t offer anything else contradictory to his boss. By the time he arrived to his apartment he had concluded the call and all he wanted to do was put his boy to bed and settle in with one of his bath bombs (probably the eucalyptus one) and mentally prepare for tomorrow. 

~~

~~

After explaining to him that he wouldn’t be going to the daycare for the morning, Jeongguk was much more manageable than usual resulting in Yoongi being able to leave earlier than he usually did and actually catch the first bus to the office. He ignored the usual looks they garnered from the driver and the handful of people already on and took a seat placing Jeongguk protectively on his lap with his satchel. The toddler was slowly waking as he drank from his sippy cup which his parent quietly envied since he would have to wait for his mid-morning coffee break (which was actually the five minutes of peace he had between meetings and paperwork) before he got his. He talked quietly to his son pointing out the colors and hues from the sunrise shining through a dirty window as they continued their ride, more than used to the smell of gasoline and the sudden jerking movements of stop-and-go traffic. 

They arrived at the appointed stop and got off with a short line of people and started their walk towards the office building. After the first block, the toddler became impatient and Yoongi set him on the sidewalk to walk alongside him which was a slow process but he figured it was ok seeing as they were already a bit early. When they finally arrived, the lobby was in the early stages of getting busy so he still allowed Jeongguk to walk ahead of him leading them towards the elevators and grinning at his chirps or babbling. They rode up to the appointed floor and walked to Seokjin’s office where the man was already waiting having apparently just finished feeding his twin sons by paper bags littering the coffee table. Yoongi cleared his throat to alert the older man while Jeongguk partially hid himself behind his mother’s legs uncomfortable with so many new people. His boss started at the sound but beamed happily at seeing the two of them and eagerly went over with a cup of iced coffee that Yoongi was desperately hoping was for him.

“Yoongi-ssi! Good morning! Oh hello to you too! From the little that I see, he’s absolutely adorable!” Jin bent down slightly to see more of Jeongguk who merely grunted and hid himself even more. Yoongi was about to apologize when his boss did his squeaky laugh so he took it as a good sign. 

“Not one to mince words huh? I respect that. Ah! Where are my manners, this is for you. I realize you won’t be able to get your usual pick-me-up so I got your usual from the cafe downstairs. And of course, these are my sons; Taehyung, Jimin why don’t you come say hello.” he gestured to each boy who popped the heads up at their name to look over between their mother and Yoongi who happily took the cool drink. Both boys were the same height and had the same black undercut hairstyle that seemed to never go out of fashion but that seemed to be where the similarities ended. 

Taehyung’s face was still round from babyhood but he could see the beginnings of a sharp jawline and of course his infectious boxy grin which had come on his face once seeing that there was another kid in the room. Jimin's round face looked like it would develop into adorable chubby cheeks with angelic cheek bones most models would kill for and a curved eye smile that perfectly matched his shy one. Taehyung, being the most eager, was the first to approach Yoongi and Jeongguk while his brother followed shortly behind mainly trying to peer around the adult’s legs for a glance at the younger boy. 

“Hi, I’m Tae! What are you doin’ hiding? We don’t bite or anything cos muma says it’s rude.” Yoongi snorted at the added comment.

“And gross.” Jimin added with a quiet mumble blushing when he caught his mother’s eye but giggling when the man only gave him a wink. “Oh! And I’m Jimin. I’m three an’ a half.” he mentioned proudly. Tae made a loud “oo!” sound and added that he was also three and a half as well as mentioning that their birthday was soon but still a long while away. 

“It’s nice to meet you both. I’m Yoongi and this is my son, Jeongguk.” he lightly pushed the toddler away from his legs to stand in front of them which garnered him a scowl which he just barely resisted responding with one of his own. One of them had to be an adult and it wouldn’t be the one still in pampers. Tae for the most part was unbothered by Jeongguk’s unfriendly aura and immediately went over to him bending forward to be closer to his shorter stature. 

“Aww, he’s so cute! Hi Jon, Jeonguuk?” the older boy looked up at him for validation making Yoongi chuckle around the straw of his coffee at his choppy pronunciation. 

“Jeon-gguk. But Gukkie works fine too.” he amended causing both children to giggle.

“Cookie! Your name’s Cookie, Cookie!” Tae laughed loudly while Jimin giggled beside him while Jeongguk squawked at his mother for his betrayal before glowering at the two in front of him. 

“Not Cookie! Gukkie!” Jeongguk stomped his foot emphasizing his words which, holy shit his kid said something. Yelled something actually but he wasn’t about to split hairs. Shit, he should say something about that tone though, which fuck how ridiculous was it that he was going to reprimand his son for how he talked when he’d been freaking out about the kid talking in general? 

“Gukkie, he just mispronounced your name, don’t be mad at him for something silly.” Yoongi said slightly hesitatingly, not wanting to sound too harsh and have him shut down again. Or worse have him meltdown. Jeongguk, for the most part, was still pouting but didn’t look like he’d be throwing a tantrum in the next few seconds which was definitely a positive and looked up at him with his wobble lip. “They eat me.” he protested which ok. Was his son always this adorable? It was way too early for him to handle this level of cute with minimum caffeine. Yoongi crouched down to the boys’ level lightly patting his son’s soft feathery hair consolingly with his free hand.

“They don’t want to eat you Gukkie, remember? Tae and Jimin think biting’s rude so they definitely won’t do that.” Jimin thankfully refrained from adding his gross part this time, too busy nodding along to the adult’s words. 

“Nope! No biting! Even if you was a cookie!” he told him firmly while Tae agreed wholeheartedly. 

“I’d be a snickerdoodle cookie cos it has a funny name an’ cinnamon an’ I like cinnamon so I might bite myself on accident.” Tae stated solemnly causing both Jin and Yoongi to blink in succession but Jimin didn’t seem surprised by his brother’s odd outburst. What had Yoongi even more surprised was that his son voluntarily walked over to the older boy and took his hand lightly smacking it as his mother was prone to do. “No biting.” Jeongguk told him seriously which was apparently hilarious to Taehyung who started giggling madly agreeing with his “punishment” and promising he wouldn’t bite. 

“What kinda cookie would I be?” Jimin asked his mother imploringly who smiled sweetly and plucked a chubby cheek between his fingers.

“A sugar cookie because you’re sooooooo sweet!~” he told him in a sugary voice that made Yoongi want to roll his eyes until his own son turned him with the same question. 

“You’re a chocolate chip cookie because you’re a classic and still full of surprises.” he eventually replied after thinking it over. The answer thankfully appeased the toddler who went back over to his two new friends to talk more about cookie people and the like. Yoongi caught Jin’s soft look at the group of boys and unconsciously copied it before being led over to a white board to discuss the older man’s later meetings and what to do in the event the boys got-God forbid-bored. 

* * *

Hoseok put the finishing touches on a couple’s summer get-away vacation package, double checking the flight departure and arrival dates and sending the copies where they needed to be sent, before finally logging out and shutting down his computer with a happy huff. He loved Fridays for of course the obvious reason that it was the last day of his work week but also this Friday in particular because he got to spend the rest of his afternoon with his favorite godsons. His only godsons but that didn’t really matter. Namjoon and Jin and called him frantic the night before saying that the former forgot to mention that the boy’s daycare would be closed and needed someone to watch them for the afternoon. He of course happily volunteered but was curious as to who was watching them for the morning to which he was waved off with a “I’ve got it covered.” Hoseok packed up his things in his messenger bag and gave a jaunty wave to his remaining coworkers before whistling and walking over to the elevators to take him up to Jin’s office floor. Once there he waved to the nice secretary behind the desk giving his usual polite smile even as the woman ignored him and continued clacking away at her computer. He wondered why his friend kept such a nasty employee and hoped she was better at her job than she was her personal skills before just entering the office without bothering to knock. Inside he saw a sight that he couldn’t have dreamt in even his weirdest (current) dreams. Grocery Guy (Yoongi his memory supplied) was sitting on the floor surrounded by a group of children made up by his twin god sons and Dream Toddler (Jeongguk his memory snapped) coloring pictures and discussing them very seriously. He hid himself in the entryway not ready to break up the picturesque view and to eavesdrop on the discussion.

“Look look! I drew you!”

“Oh you did? Am I the big cookie or the little cookie?”

“Little.”

“What?! Why am I little?”

“Cos you didn’t drink your milk when you were our age so now you’re short forever.” Hoseok nearly bowled over and had to put his entire fist in his mouth to stop his laughter at Jimin’s matter-of-fact statement and Yoongi’s gobsmacked expression.

“Yah! I drank milk when I was younger! And I’m not short, I’m a perfectly acceptable height. Now my friend Kihyun,  _ he’s _ short. Oh, Taetae, what is your cookie doing to the other one?” the omega asked honestly curious looking over at the other’s picture. Should a heart be able to explode within someone’s chest? He was pretty sure his heart just did so. 

“I’m fixing him. He escaped from a cookie monster an’ he needs em-emercey surgey.” Taehyung flubbed over with his tiny tongue sticking out of his mouth as he drew. 

“Oh. You must be a great doctor to do emergency surgery.” Yoongi praised having caught onto what the boy had tried to say. 

“I’m cookie monster. Rawr!” Jeongguk piped up with a loud roar at the end startling Jimin but making Taehyung giggle. 

“Gukkie, you’re not gonna eat my cookies, right?” the chubby cheeked twin asked with a pout before brightening at the toddler’s shaken head. 

“Nope, I eat mommy.”

“Ts, I knew I raised a sugar brat. Well I’m gonna go to Taetae so he can fix me up so there.” And Yoongi being the responsible adult he is stuck his tongue out at his son who loudly laughed and stuck out his own. Taehyung, who finally finished his picture to his satisfaction, looked up and was the first to spot Hoseok’s hovering form and did a pterodactyl like shriek before getting up and running over to his “UNCLE HOBI.” Hearing the war cry, Jimin also jumped up running to Hoseok with slightly less ear shattering squeals of delight while Jeongguk looked positively confused (and a little scared but no one blamed him) before he too became excited over who it was at the door. 

Yoongi for the most part was still clutching his racing heart from Tae’s earlier screams as he watched all the children get up and run from their pictures to a very familiar man that he had been sure he’d never see again. Said man was now covered in toddlers holding both twins in one arm while the youngest was clinging to his leg, all of them babbling excitedly about their day or asking him questions which he actually answered in a smooth practiced way of only a man of experience really knew how. If this stirred any type of feelings within Yoongi, he firmly blamed it on biology and nothing more. “Um, hello again. I guess you’re the friend Seokjin-ssi spoke about but uh, he said you wouldn’t be coming for another half hour?” he explained as he gathered himself off the floor failing to hide his wince from his knees cracking. Stay too long in one position and he sounded like an old geezer good Lord. Hoseok waited until the man was fully upright (at least that’s the excuse he’s using) before finally responding. 

“Yes! I mean hello! And yes! Ha.” the tall alpha laughed nervously while secretly wanting to beam himself on the nearest surface. “What I mean is, hello nice to see you again too. Yes, I am the friend hyung mentioned. I finished up work early and decided to come by to relieve the poor person who got stuck looking after them.” Hoseok teased playfully nipping at both boy’s cheeks as they wriggled in his arms. He placed them both on the ground before they could fall and gave a happy pat to the top of Jeongguk’s head. “And hello to you too Jeongguk. Have you all been playing nice today?” he asked grinning brightly as the boy nodded excitedly. 

“Uncle Hobi we played all sorts of games an’ drew lots of pictures for muma, daddy, an’ you!” Taehyung butted in waving his hands about in his eagerness. Jimin actually went to the table to grab the picture he had drawn for his godfather saying that he was a “white choc’late macamadama chip cookie” much to Hoseok’s joy as he looked over and praised the portrait. “Why that cookie?” he asked after a minute. 

“Yoongi said that the cookie is sweet and nutty an’ it sounded just like you!” Jimin responded innocently, or Yoongi would’ve believed it was innocent had he not seen the mischievous glint in the three year old’s eyes that made him cough to cover up his laugh. Hoseok didn’t even bother covering his up and playfully chased his godson mock angry at being called “nutty.” Eventually he ended up being  _ chased  _ by not just Jimin but Taehyung and Jeongguk and eventually pinned by all the boys in a giant giggling dogpile. 

“Yoongi! You are my last hope!” Hoseok pleaded to Yoongi as the boys wiggled and tickled at him on the floor. The man sighed fake and heavily before doing a war cry and leaping over at the pile and attacking both Jeongguk and Tae with a tickle attack leaving Jimin at Hoseok’s mercys which was exactly how Jin found them barely a minute later. 

~~

~~

After aiding his son’s in their battle causing the other two adults to yield in dramatic fashion, Jin made good on his earlier promise and took everyone, Hoseok included, to lunch at the nearby restaurant who’s specialty order was lamb kebabs which had Yoongi practically salivating from smell alone. They were all placed in a large booth with the twins sitting on either side of their mother while Jeongguk wriggled himself around until he was eventually placed right in between his mother and Hoseok. After ordering and distributing drinks to the young ones, the adults conversed easily with Jin doing his windshield laugh after hearing how the two met one another. 

“Hoseok! What in the world convinced you to pick up an unknown child?!” Jin eventually asked after his laughing fit was over. Hoseok flushed and tried to think of an explanation that wouldn’t give away the fact that he  _ hadn’t _ been an unknown child, not really, and couldn’t think of one that wouldn’t make him sound crazy/creepy so he just lamely mumbled that he hadn’t wanted Jeongguk to get cold from the freezer starting a whole other laughing fit. The toddler in question merely beamed at his mention sucking down his juice and trying to split his attention between his mother, his Hoseok, and his new friends. 

Another few minutes of embarrassing Hoseok went by before they started talking on other subjects while both Yoongi and Hoseok tried to make it seem like they weren’t looking over at the other while Jin watched on with a pleasant look but scheming eyes. In his mind, he was already thinking of ways he could possibly throw the two together while making it seem like a complete accident and possibly imagining wedding themes. Possibly. In his defense, the younger man was one of his best and closest friends and all he wanted was for him to find that happiness he was desperately searching for. He always kept up this happy joyful persona but he knew there was a lonely man behind the facade; mainly due to the nights where a drunk and crying Hoseok would call them afraid that he wouldn’t meet that special person or worse, that he’d already met them and missed his one shot at a happily ever after. Those nights were now few and far between and that was partly due to him designating a lot of his time to the twins whenever he could and even occasionally volunteering at the nearby youth center but he could still see that lingering sadness. He saw that same loneliness and sadness in Yoongi but the shorter man didn’t even attempt to hide just how tired he was behind a pleasant mask. He just put up so many walls there was no way a normal person could even hope to break them all down. And if there’s one thing Jin knows about Jung Hoseok is that he’s nowhere near normal. He means this in a completely complementary manner though it was hard to see it that way when the man in question was making the children laugh by placing chopsticks on his head like antennas and making cricket noises. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My duuuddeesss~  
> I'm finally back with another chapter, which I know you have been anxiously awaiting. Some more than other since they actually follow my main story and know my update schedule >.>;;  
> But here it is and you even get the baby daddy's name in this chapter! And before you ask, no he's not modeled after another k-artist. I'll explain more about him as the story continues so rest assured, this isn't your last time hearing about him. I hope you enjoy, I promise more Kihyun/Jooheon interaction next chapter, and congrats for BTS on their new comeback! Anpanman is my new bop like, I can't even.


	4. It Could've Been Worse?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Yoongi's defense, it could've been. And in Kihyun's defense, his friend was a fucking idiot.

One would think that in such a germ conscious country like Korea that people would have the decency and self respect to stay home when they caught an illness so that they wouldn’t spread such illness. One would think right? But no. Instead, people assume that just walking around with their masks and a cute little bottle of strawberry ass scented hand sanitizer and they’d be right as fucking rain. Well, Yoongi could confidently say that those people are dead ass wrong. And ironically as he was attempting not to accidentally sneeze his brain out of his mouth, he was heading into work with an oblivious Jungkook sitting sleepily on his lap during their usual morning commute. He had woken up a few days ago with a stuffy head and a hint of sniffles, but he had just chalked it up to allergies and just made sure to crank up the air purifier and nearly overdose on ginseng tea thinking (hoping, praying) that it would help. To no avail however since he woke up a few hours ago feeling like an entire truck had fallen on his chest and nose overnight with his eyes and cheeks so swollen it was a miracle he could even see. He slapped some cold compresses on and still made himself get ready for work (because he’s a hypocritical bastard who needed to pay rent in a few days) and get Jeongguk ready for daycare.

The bus trip to the office was extra nauseating because of course even though he couldn’t breathe properly the fumes and smoke would still irritate his already fucked up sinuses. By the time he actually dropped Jeongguk off and made it to his floor, Yoongi was ready to just accept death and go peacefully into the goodnight. Or however the hell it went. Yoongi trudged into his boss’ office with the intent of informing him of the day’s schedule but found it empty. Confused, he walked over to the desk to see if he’d been left a note but still found nothing. Now he was steadily becoming alarmed and wondered if he’d forgotten an early morning meeting he was supposed to be part of and consulted his calendar sighing in relief when he found nothing. Maybe he was just late; twins did do that. Yoongi’s sigh turned into a soft chuckle just thinking of the two boys he was regularly becoming familiar with. Jin hadn’t been kidding when he mentioned scheduling play dates for the boys so for the past few weekends, they’d all been meeting together at parks or playgrounds close by for them all to meet at. Jeongguk was happy which of course made Yoongi ecstatic, or close to it had there not also been for another additional person who occasionally tagged along.

Hoseok (or Hobi as he had gotten Jeongguk into calling him, Yoongi not so much) was now a near-permanent fixture to these play dates much to the children’s delight but Yoongi wasn’t sure what to think of it just yet. Just because the alpha wasn’t a child kidnapper or steaming pile of dog dicks like he’d just assumed most of the general population was didn’t mean he had to actually become friendly with the man. But from the way Hoseok acted, it was his main objective to not only be nice and friendly with Yoongi but to actually carry on conversations. Not cordial ones of “hi, how are you, shitty weather right?” no like “hey, did you see Knowing Brother the other night” or “omigosh I still can’t believe the ending to While You Were Sleeping” and the like. It baffled Yoongi more than it alarmed him that the other man was earnestly trying to gain his favor or friendship for almost no other reason than just to have it. Because there was seriously no other reason than that since he barely had five thousand won to his name, let alone his status...it was confusing and Yoongi hated being confused. Without realizing it, Yoongi slipped into one of the cloud-like chairs in front of Jin’s desk with his reasoning being that he was just going to rest for a minute before going to find his wayward boss. Just for a minute. The next thing he knew he was being shaken awake by a frantic Jin who kept calling his name.

“Yoongi-ssi! Is this where you’ve been the whole time?!” Yoongi blinked up blearily at the other man trying to reorient himself not understanding what was happening.

“Yes? I was looking for you but I couldn’t find you and then I just-oh god. What time is it?” he asked worriedly cursing as he pulled out his phone and noticed both the late morning time and the missed calls and messages from Jin and Baek-Tan representative he was supposed to be meeting ten minutes ago.

“Seokjin-ssi, I-I’m so sorry. I’ll reschedule the meeting for a later time today. Maybe she’s still in the building-”

“Don’t bother.” Yoongi winced, despite the it not being said coldly he still felt the sting of disappointment and bowed remorsefully from his still seated position. “I’m so sorry Seokjin-ssi, this is all my fault. Please, let me try to make up for it.”

He heard Jin do a gusty sigh and his footsteps to and from his supply closet. “Yoongi-ssi, why are you at work if you obviously feel so terrible?” he pressed a cool bottle of water into his coworker’s hands as well as a fever patch. Yoongi blushed, though he supposed he should be grateful the fever sort of hid that fact, as he murmured his thanks for the items.

“I haven’t been working here long enough to accrue actual sick days yet and my rent is due by the end of the week...I just couldn’t afford not to come in.” he quietly explained not meeting the older man’s eyes. Jin sighed once again this time grumbling under his breath about the men around wanting to stress him into an early grave.

“Yoongi-ssi, I’d like to think that we’re more than just our work relationship. I’d like to say that we’re friends, yes?” Jin asked him softly leaning against his desk as he stared down at him. Yoongi twiddled with the patch in his hands to keep avoiding from looking at what he was sure going to be Jin’s patented “Not Mad But Disappointed” look. “Yes?”

“Then as your friend who just so happens to also be your boss, you look like shit and you need to go home and that’s final. I don’t want to see you in this building until you’re back to being one hundred percent, am I being clear Yoongi-ya?” Jin purposely changed honorifics in order to butter him up; he knew this which just made Yoongi that much more annoyed that it worked and he nodded his agreement. Before he knew it, he was being led back towards the elevator with strict instructions to go home, get into bed, and not leave it for anything as well as to keep a steady intake of fluids, bathe regularly with salts to purify the body and spirit and did he have someone to possibly look after Jeongguk while he was indisposed? Yoongi answered them all with steady nods as he was finally back onto the ground floor and sniffling rather pathetically as he was forced to walk over to the daycare to get his son, who  was not upset at the fact he was leaving early and even waved happily back at Jin as mother and son walked out the building to the nearest bus stop. Get home, call Kihyun, get in bed, get well. Simple enough plan, right?

 

* * *

 

 

A well-worn tired grin slipped easily onto Hoseok’s face as, for the third or fourth time, he graciously declined the invitation to have lunch with his group of coworkers instead making the excuse that he’d already called ahead for his order and it’d be rude not to go get it. The moment the group was out of eyesight and earshot, his gracious demeanor slipped away as he let out a tired grumpy noise, a cross between a sigh and a yell. What was wrong with some people?! If he said no once, what made them think he would change his mind if they asked a second, third, or so on times?! Stepping out of the cool building into the steady heat of the summer brought an unpleasant chill up Hoseok’s arms making him unconsciously rub them. He was thankful that his work environment allowed certain leeway in regards to their clothing because he couldn’t even imagine having to keep wearing a suit in this heat every day, he was boiling some days just wearing his quarter sleeved shirts like he was today! He sighed again and continued his trek down the block to the restaurant; he hadn’t been lying when he said he’d ordered ahead. There was a to-go order of dak galbi literally with his name on it and he had a good hour before his next scheduled appointment.

As he was walking he saw some people start hovering around a bus that was at its stop but didn’t think much of it and ducked into the shop across the way from it. Nearly ten minutes later, Hoseok was happily exiting the restaurant with his bag in hand to see even more people around the bus stop and the bus miraculously still there. Many of the people surrounding the bus looked to be onlookers while there were some who were talking loudly and one person even talking frantically on the phone as they kept straining to look into the bus. Finally his curiosity got the best of him and he went over to join the crowd wondering what it was that had drew them and the closer he got, the more he could decipher some of their words and start hearing some muffled crying coming from the actual bus. Alarmed, Hoseok looked around craning his head over the crowd to see if he could potentially spot who it was crying but all he could see in the windows (if that’s what they called those grimy sheets of plexiglass) was what looked to be the driver and a security officer. He frowned and managed to push his way through the surprisingly dense crowd to get to the front of the scene just as an ambulance pulled up behind the bus and two people came out with an empty stretcher. Hoseok’s eyes got wide as he looked on wondering what exactly had happened on the bus and as the back doors were thrown open, the crying from earlier got louder and he sadly noted that it sounded like a child’s while he could also now hear the angry voices of the driver or officer.

“He’s right here but watch out-”

“That damn kid hasn’t shut up the whole time and he fucking _bit me_! I swear these fucking omegas can’t even do one goddamn job right-”

“Excuse me sir, we’re going to need you to grab the child so we can get to-”

“Yah! Weren’t you listening to me?! _The fucking kid won’t let you-_ ”

Hoseok was the closest he could get to the bus without actually being in the way and watched as the workers argued amongst themselves while the child’s screams only wavered by the occasional “mommy!” Thankfully it seemed that the first responders finally got their patient strapped onto the stretcher as they were carefully maneuvering them out of the bus which allowed the crowd their first look at whoever caused the ruckus. It took him a few precarious seconds but the longer he stared, the more he realized that yes, that was Yoongi lying unconscious on a stretcher. So that had to mean that the child screaming-

“YAH! HE BIT ME AGAIN, THIS DAMNED STUPID BRAT-!”

Hoseok didn’t even attempt being polite this time as he pushed his way through the onlookers to the back door opening of the bus seeing the driver holding a squirming yelling Jeongguk. The driver had apparently lost all patience and was now yelling back at the little boy even shaking him a bit which had Hoseok seeing red and before he could stop himself he was climbing his way past shocked ambulance workers into the bus.

“Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing?! Stop shaking him like that, can’t you see he’s scared enough?!” he yelled angrily startling the driver and catching Jeongguk’s attentions. Immediately, he began squirming and whining even more in an attempt to get to him and obediently Hoseok opened his arms to pick him up but was stopped by the now non-silent security.

“Excuse me sir, despite the crowd this is a private scene so I’m going to need you to please exit the bus.”

“I can see that, but I know these people and I know for a fact that this excuse for a man isn’t making anything better for my friend or his son.”

“Oh, what did you just say?!” the driver pitched in. He was probably going to say more had he not cried and jerked in pain from where Jeongguk had once again bitten him in the arm.

“Look, if the guy wants this little freak he can have him!” The officer sighed looking between Hoseok and the still crying toddler and finally nodded his ascent. Hoseok wasted no time pushing past him and gathering Jeongguk into his arms cuddling the sniffling boy close and awkwardly petting at his hair since his take out bag now hung precariously on his wrist. “Shhshh, it’s ok now, you’re ok baby you’re ok.” he murmured into the soft crown of hair as Jeongguk stopped his wailing only to keep up a steady stream of sniffles and snippets of word “mommy” reminding him of the seriousness of their situation.

“Which hospital is his mother being taken to?” Hoseok asked the officer sneering as the man grimaced at his word association before mentioning the name of the hospital and asking if he’d need a ride. One of the first responders piped in stating that Hoseok could ride with them seeing as he knew the patient as long as he kept a handle on the toddler in his arms. He nodded and quickly climbed off the bus and into the back of the ambulance barely squeezing into a seat before he drove away in a hurry. He kept a hand on the back of Jeongguk’s neck to keep him from turning and seeing the sorry state his mother was in and distracted him by keeping a steady stream of murmurs and pats. Yoongi had always been pale but it had always seemed rather ethereal to Hoseok, like he was from another plane of existence. His illness seemed to have suck out that light from him leaving his skin looking waxy and the stillness of his body almost convincing him he was looking at a corpse. Only the slight movement of his chest and the breathing bag attached to his nose and mouth assured him otherwise.

 

==

==

 

The ride to the hospital was thankfully uneventful with Yoongi getting admitted right away leaving Hoseok and a spent Jeongguk in the waiting area. There, he immediately went to his phone and started his calls. The first to his boss explaining a sort of family emergency and to please log out his computer then personally calling his clients to apologize and reschedule, thankful for their graciousness and well wishes. Finally he called Jin since he might have been worried when Yoongi hadn’t come into the office only for the man to tell him he had sent him home once he had figured out the other was sick. It took Hoseok a few minutes to calm down his hyung’s panicking and his guilt that he hadn’t just taken the man home himself instead of allowing him to take his “germ and disease ridden claustrophobic box of hell.” When he finally got the man to calm down he agreed to the promise that he would keep him informed about Yoongi’s prognosis leaving him with no one else to call and the startling revelation that he had no one else to call but still Jeongguk to look over. He might be on semi-friendly terms to the omega but he didn’t know a whole lot about him, especially his emergency contacts.

Trying not to jostle the child in his arms, Hoseok went back to the help desk wondering if they knew what happened with Yoongi’s things, most importantly his phone. He was lucky in that they still had his stuff and were eager to give it to them so to avoid cluttering up their workspace. Once he was back in a seat (and after a quick prayer of forgiveness), he began rifling through the man’s threadbare satchel thankfully locating his cell in one of the deep side pockets. He pressed the home button watching the screen light up to show a number of missed calls with most of them coming from Jin while two others came from numbers shown as “Nosy Noona” and “Evil Hamster.” The phone was locked and required a passcode to get in but luckily enough Hoseok was familiar with this model of phone that he knew if he swiped down the calls, it would give him the option of calling those numbers back. He tried “Nosy Noona” first but was taken straight to voicemail and since he didn’t really know the type of relationship Yoongi might have with this person he just hung up without leaving one so he didn’t mistakenly freak the person out. Trying “Evil Hamster” seemed to be his last option and he waited as the call connected and ran wondering just who was on the other end.

 _“Ah, so you finally call me back. I was beginning to think I’d have to hunt your scrawny ass down.”_ Hoseok choked hearing how calmly the man cursed even more apprehensive about Yoongi’s contacts.

“Uh, I’m sorry? I’m trying to in contact with someone who called this number.” he explained hesitantly. The other line suddenly got quiet and for a moment Hoseok was afraid he might’ve accidentally hung up or lost the call. “Hello?”

_“Who the hell is this? How do you get this number? How do you have this phone?! I swear to God if you hurt the person who owns this phone I will fucking snap your spine into-”_

“Ah! No! I didn’t steal this phone or hurt Yoongi-!”

_“HOW DO YOU  KNOW HIS NAME YOU SON OF A BITCH?!”_

“Please listen to me! I’m at the hospital, Yoongi apparently collapsed on a bus and was taken here in an ambulance. They’re still running tests and won’t let me or anyone else in his room right now so I don’t know how he’s doing. Jeongguk is here with me and he’s really upset and I don’t know how long this is going to take or how long he’s going to be here.” he rushed out speaking over the other man so he could finally say his piece. Again there was silence but he could still here the other’s breathing through the earpiece.

_“You better not be lying about this or I swear-”_

“What kind of person lies about something like this?! I’m literally sitting in a hospital with a kid who finally passed out from crying with cold jokbal yelling at a guy who’s name is apparently ‘Angry Hamster’ who I hoped would care that his friend is ill enough to have collapsed!”

Another silence.

_“...what’s the name of the hospital?”_

 

==

==

 

It was about thirty minutes before Yoongi’s friend arrived, or at least Hoseok assumed it was his friend since a man just randomly burst into the hospital asking for a Min Yoongi. The nurse at the station told him the same thing she’d told Hoseok and directed him to the same waiting area. The whole time he had waited, Hoseok had tried to think of how a man by the name of “Angry Hamster” would look and he had to say, Yoongi had kind of been spot on. The man was about the same height as the omega give or take a few inches, his cheekbones enhanced his cheek’s roundness giving off that hamster impression and even from about a meter away he could see a steely fire in his eyes. When they swept over to him, Hoseok flinched and he had to mentally remind himself that he wasn’t in the wrong here though that didn’t stop him from holding Jeongguk closer to him unconsciously using the boy as a shield. The other man looked a sight in the lobby; dressed in a slate grey two piece suit with an indigo tie and shiny patent leather shoes. The only tousled thing about him was his hair which actually complimented his look much to Hoseok’s consternation. He hadn’t looked that good in a suit in his entire twenty six years of life. A soft “ahem” alerted him to the fact that the man was now standing right in front of him, which he probably missed due to daydreaming about the unfairness of it all.

“You’re the one who called me then?” the man asked looking down at him with calculating eyes. They only softened when Jeongguk stirred in Hoseok’s arms blinking up blearily at him then turning to look at the other man croaking out, “Uncle Kih”

“Hey Gukkie, you alright?” Hoseok nearly did a double take at the complete switch in tone but cuddled the little boy closer as he whimpered and started looking around the lobby.

“Mommy?”

Both men sighed at looked at each other not knowing what to tell him. “Mommy is...mommy’s still not feeling well.” Hoseok managed to say, albeit awkwardly. He could see it still wasn’t enough for the little boy but at least he wasn’t yelling like earlier. The man, Kihyun he later learned, took a seat beside them and joined them in their scintillating act of waiting.

As they sat, he learned that Kihyun was a lawyer at a local firm, Jeongguk’s godfather, and Yoongi’s best friend. The latter who he usually calls around this time to ensure he’d actually eaten lunch (“the idiot forgot once and had the gall to text me about how hungry he was when he was working late, can you believe that?”). Hoseok also explained how he knew the Min family starting from their rather disastrous meeting at the grocery store (and huffed when the other man laugh, like it’s not _that_ funny!) and their continued meet ups with a shared friend. He even apologized for his angry outburst on the phone, explaining how annoyed and angry he had been with the bus driver and the security officer from earlier but that it was no excuse to take it out on him. Kihyun also apologized for his earlier antagonistic words and approach towards him on the phone.

“I know he can take care of himself and that he has but, he shouldn’t have to all the time, you know?” Kihyun lamented as Hoseok nodded along because he totally agreed. It was something he had thought of frequently whenever he saw the other man and noticed the looks he and his son would receive just by going about their day to day lives. It was disturbing and maddening and honestly it just pissed him off and made him wonder if other single parent omegas dealt with the same bullshit and he just never noticed which was truly disheartening .

“Mr. Jung and Mr. Yoo?”

Both men snapped their head up and over to the doctor standing by the nurses’ station before hurriedly walking over.  

“Mr. Min has as slight infection from a flu resulting in a high fever and dehydration. He’s breathing on his own which is a good thing but we would still like to keep overnight for observation for his fever and his dehydration.” the doctor explained giving a small smile as both men let out sighs of relief.

“Can we see him?”

“You may, but don’t be alarmed if he seems overly weak or can’t talk for long periods. His body is still recovering and we don’t want him getting too worked up.” she told them gently but sternly before leading them down the hallway. After a few short turns they ended up outside his assigned door and both men gave polite bows towards the doctor before going inside. The first thing Hoseok noticed was the sharp smell of antiseptic tickling at his nose then at the frail looking body occupying the bed. Yoongi’s pale body barely stood out against the matching white sheets with his black fanned out on the pillow and both arms hooked up to two separate IV bags on either side of him. Even though they’d been warned, Hoseok was still alarmed at just how ill  his friend seemed and from the sharp intake of air from beside him he was sure Kihyun was feeling the same way.

 

* * *

 

 

Yoongi felt like his entire body was an anchor weighing him down with even the tiniest of movements feeling impossible. He had never felt this tired before; even after giving birth he’d never felt this type of bone deep weariness and frankly, he was a bit scared. The last thing he remembered was closing his eyes on the bus for what to be on record as the longest blink, then, nothing. By the time he came back, his eyelids refused to cooperate with him as he tried to open them and all he could hear was disjointed voices around him sounding as if they were talking in a large echoing tunnel. Each time he tried to wade through it all he would fade right back into darkness. Finally though, it seemed like he had finally regained some semblance of control over his body and used his basic senses to figure out where he was. He could hear steady beeping, both his arms still felt heavy but he also felt there was something sticking out of them? Or maybe in them? The smell though was what irritated him; it was a cross between a nursing home and the one time he’d interrupted Kihyun’s spring cleaning and had then been made to participate. He hadn’t gotten the smell of bleach and disinfectant out his nose for nearly three days. So either he was passed out in the cleaning aisle at the supermarket, or he was in a hospital. Honestly, Yoongi kind of hoped for the former. He heard a door slide open and shut and heard feet shuffle into the room and tried to figure out who this could possibly be.

“God, he looks worse than earlier. Are they sure he’s really alright?”

Hoseok? Why was he here?

“It’s probably the dehydration. Or the flu. Or my foot that’s going to be lodged up his ass.”

Dammit, and Kihyun? Great. Just what he needed.

“You’re not...supposed...to talk..shit...about the one...in the bed.” Yoongi wheezed out managing to marginally open his eyes to see both men standing at the foot of his bed. Hoseok seemed visibly relieved and gave him such a blinding smile he was sure it would’ve taken his breath away had he actually had any to begin with. As it was all it did was make him blush which stood out more since he was a few shades off his normal pale which of course Kihyun noticed if the raised eyebrow was anything to go by. Yoongi merely ignored it (read avoided his knowing look the bastard) and instead focused his attention on the bundle Hoseok was holding. Hoseok noticed his gaze and quickly walked over to him and he could hear him whisper something into Jeongguk’s ear that must have been what the boy was waiting to here since he whipped his head around to look at Yoongi while reaching for him. The alpha hesitated since he obviously didn’t want to further injure his friend but he also didn’t want to hurt Jeongguk by keeping him away from his mother. Only at Yoongi’s nod did Hoseok gently lay the toddler on his chest who then immediately curled himself into a small ball into the crook of his mother’s neck. He barely fought back tears as he strained to slowly raise his arms to cradle his son who was croaking into his ears.

“What’s..wrong with his..voice?” Yoongi asked more than a little alarmed at how his son suddenly sounded. Here Hoseok looked away with a clenched jaw before turning back surprising him with the amount of anger seeming to glow in his eyes.

“After you...passed out I guess on the bus, Jeongguk started screaming and crying and wouldn’t let anyone near you. Especially that bas-that idiot of a bus driver. From what I can tell, he’d been screaming for nearly half an hour before someone did something.” he explained with disdain practically dripping from his words as he thought about it. Yoongi however was horrified to know his baby had gone through such an ordeal, all because he had been stupid enough to try and go to work and then passed out on a damn bus. _StupidstupidstupidstupidfuckhewassofuckingstupidwhatthehellkindofmotherwasheGodhewassuchafuckingidiot_

“Jeonggukkie...mommy’s sorry. Mommy’s so so so sorry. I didn’t...I didn’t..I didn’t mean to scare you, baby. I’m so sorry.” Yoongi repeated softly to Jeongguk not caring that he lost the battle against his tears only wiping the ones that fell on his son’s chubby cheeks. _I’m so so sorry Jeonggukie._

“You should be! You scared him, me, Hoseok-ssi, and a bunch of other people half to death with this! I’ve told you time and time again to start taking your health seriously or something bad would happen and guess what? I was right! Imagine that!” Kihyun took this time to finally speak out glaring at his friend in the bed while ignoring the horrified look he was garnering from Hoseok.

“Kihy-Kihyun-ssi! You can’t say something like that to him! He couldn’t have known something like this would happen!”

“No, but he could’ve been more careful! He could’ve stayed home and rested instead of trying to do it all. _He could’ve relied more on his friends instead of thinking he was still all alone!_ ” Kihyun ended with a shout completely ok that he was losing his composure in the middle of a hospital room. Hoseok however was not ok with that and was about to go over to the shorter man fully intent on telling him off when Yoongi used brought up a hand to stop him. Immediately, he paused and looked down at him, visibly deflating but still just as angry and Yoongi had no idea why the sight of this made him so happy. Maybe he was sicker than he thought. “Hoseok no, he’s right. He’s always been trying..to tell me this and..I’ve never listened. He’s right. I have good friends..and I should rely on them..more when I’m..not-not feeling...well.” Ugh, he was already sick of being sick. He couldn’t catch his breath like a fucking break.

Yoongi turned and looked over at his friend, who was still glaring at him but he could see how taunt he was holding himself and the wrinkles in his clothes that showed how much he must have been worrying at his collar and sleeves in an effort to not twiddle or bite at his thumbs like he was prone to do. As much as he liked to yell and threaten him, Kihyun was still his dongsaeng and he had scared him just as much as he had Jeongguk. Probably more so since he could think of more horrifying possibilities than just collapsing. “You’re right Kihyun-ah, and I’m sorry.” Both omegas were smart enough to know that this wasn’t just about him ending up in the hospital. It was about how he was always trying to keep his worries and burdens on his own shoulders despite his friends-practically his family-asking and begging to let him share. His selfishness and pride had landed him in the hospital with a son who had been so scared he damn near ruined his vocal chords. He was ashamed and his friend had every right to yell at him like he did. Kihyun softened his glare and turned away with a sniff trying to obstruct the view of him rubbing at his eyes.

“Don’t think just because you’re sorry and looking like shit doesn’t mean I’m still not mad at you, hyung.” he told him imperiously which was rather ruined by the shaky smile he bestowed on the other omega. They both knew he was on the road to forgiveness but Yoongi would still make sure he earned it.

“Of course. Ah, Hoseok-ssi...I owe you an...an apology too-”

“Tsch, what are you talking about? You don’t owe me anything.” Hoseok cut him off with a quick grin before a pensive look stole across his face. “Well, there is something you could do for me.”

God, why was Yoongi suddenly warm? He could’ve sworn he was freezing just a few minutes ago.

“Wh-what?”

“You can call me ‘Hobi’ like everyone else does. I kinda like to think that maybe, we’re friends? Or at least close friendly acquaintances?” Hoseok laughed softly at his bad attempt at a joke while Yoongi’s eyes widened and were inexplicably summoned to the other’s mouth as the same words from earlier flowed out of them. It took him a few seconds to figure out he was staring before he tore his eyes away with a flush and hoped the other would blame it on the fever.

“Ye-yeah. Sure, uh, Hobi-ah.” he tried out the name with a small quirk of his lips causing Hoseok to laugh again and deem it a good first try. Yoongi steadily kept his gaze from wondering over to Kihyun, not wanting to know what the other man could possibly be thinking.

They were interrupted by a short knock on the door before a doctor stepped in who Yoongi didn’t recognize but the other two did as they both bowed easily to her.

“I’m sorry to be the one to inform you that visiting hours will be over soon. If all goes well tonight, we’ll be able to discharge him by tomorrow afternoon.” she informed them before walking over to Yoongi to check his vitals while her eyes softened at the sight of his son in his arms. “How are you feeling, Mr. Min?”

“Alright, a bit..tired? Kind of like I’ve..been running allot.” he frowned at the lackluster explanation but it was apparently enough for her as she nodded.

“That could be from your fever fighting the virus or from your lack of fluids. Thankfully, your dehydration wasn’t as severe as I feared or we would have had to keep you here longer than a night.” she told him in a mild tone that made him feel chastised. Like geez, he knew he fucked up but at least it wasn’t that bad, right? I could’ve been a lot worse? Another few minutes of questions and a quick blood pressure check and it was decided that as soon as he finished the IV bag, another wouldn’t be put in. Which was good news for him since hated being tethered down by needles of all things. After she left, it hit him that Jeongguk would have to leave him which he was not looking forward to in the slightest.

“Ah, Kihyun-ah, you’ll be..looking after him, right?” Yoongi asked gesturing with his head to the sleeping toddler. 

The look he was given in returned basically screamed “of fucking course” so he didn’t even bother responding instead made himself useful trying to lift his son from his chest. His arms still felt weighted down so it was an effort just to move them let alone try and make them do exactly what he wanted. Hoseok noticed him struggling and made soft tsk-ing sounds before lifting Jeongguk up with ease and smirking at the completely adult looking pout Yoongi was sporting. The sudden movement had apparently woken Jeongguk up who started to whine and wiggle so he could get back in his mother’s arms. “No, I’m sorry Gukkie, your mommy’s gotta stay so he can get better but we have to go home” Hoseok explained softly to the toddler while Yoongi looked on anxiously. The little boy pouted and he gave the man the most serious look he’d ever seen on a toddler’s face. “No! Wan’ stay with mommy!” he demanded, his voice still scratchy from earlier. Kihyun came up by him with a sympathetic look getting the boy to look at him. 

“Gukkie, it’ll be ok. You’ll come sleepover with me and Changkyun and then we can come get mommy right after breakfast. You two will be back home before you know it!” Kihyun tried to sway the little boy who shook his head. 

“No!”

“Gukkie-”

“No!”

“Jeongguk-”

“No! No no no no!” Jeongguk’s pout gave way to fulblown crying which is what Yoongi had feared would happen but he barely had the strength to comfort his son and if he did then they’d be right back to square one convincing him to leave. Hoseok surprised them all cuddling the boy close and patting him on the back as he murmured encouragements. 

“It’ll be ok, Gukkie. I know you’re worried but nothing bad is going to happen, ok? Your mommy’s gonna get better and then you two can go back to the park and do your favorite thing, what’s your favorite thing at the park?” Jeongguk sniffled and wiped his tears and goodness knows what else on Hoseok’s shirt as he mumbled his answer.

“The slide, that’s right! But mommy’s gotta stay here and get healthy so you two and go on the slide. And he can’t get healthy with us hovering around him like little bugs huh? Nope nope nope!” Hoseok shook his head comically that amazingly managed to get Jeongguk to look up at him and stop his crying. “Nope...no bugs?”

“Right, no bugs. So in the meantime, you go and have a fun sleepover with your godfather and then two can come back later and get your mommy so you can all help him get better. Ok?” Jeongguk made another few loud sniffles before he nodded his head with a soft “ok” and only gave a small smile after Hoseok made a big show of hugging him close proclaiming him to be the bravest big boy he’d ever met, ever. Only after all of that did he willingly go into an amazed Kihyun’s arms who kept looking between Jeongguk, Hoseok, and Yoongi with a weird look on his face. 

“Hoseok-ssi, are you free tomorrow morning?” Hoseok started at the random question coming from Kihyun before he finally shook his head.

“Yes, after I called my boss telling her today was a family emergency she gave me today and tomorrow off.” he explained rubbing the back of his neck embarrassed at his small fib, completely missing the stunned look on Yoongi’s face. Kihyun’s face on the other hand turned deviously happy. 

“Great, so that means you wouldn’t be too busy to join us for breakfast out my place.” 

If Yoongi could he would groan, loudly and with feeling, but as such was his life all that happened was his heart monitor began to beat furiously. Stupid fucking evil hamster. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone~!  
> Sorry for the long wait on this chapter! I've had this scene stuck in my mind for a very long time but it was hard actually typing it up >.>;;;  
> I hope you enjoy or at the very least save your yelling for the comments!


	5. Brunch and Break?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hoseok meets the Yoo-Lee family, Kihyun won't take no for an answer, and Yoongi is wondering what the hell is happening to his life.

Explaining everything that had happened that day to his family was both harder and easier than Kihyun had expected. Changkyun had merely taken a look at poor sad Jeongguk and immediately took him into his room so they could make the “bestest get better card _ever_ , with Iron Man stickers and glitter and a lolly because lollies always help.” Jooheon on the other hand had needed a bit more information. He was of course, just as upset as Kihyun that their hyung had once again disregarded his health to the point where he actually passed out on public transit, but that said he was even more upset by the aftermath.

Unbeknownst to those at the hospital, a small news crew had come to the scene and took witness statements as to what had occurred. (“The tragedy of a slow news day” Kihyun had spat viciously once he found out). Luckily though, between the EMT’s and Hoseok arriving and leaving in proper haste, the crew hadn’t been able to get proper identifying pictures of who exactly had been on the bus. However this didn’t stop witnesses from giving their own recount of the event. By the time evening fell, Yoongi was now a model of the overtaxing work day on the struggling citizen and the bus driver had been put in sensitivity training, three month suspension with six months probation once he returned.

Not that Yoongi knew all this since the moment his friends and Jeongguk had left he was given another round of antibiotics and fell right back to blissful oblivion. While Kihyun spent the rest of the evening getting things together for the next day’s brunch and gleefully telling his husband about a certain man that had gotten close with their angry hyung, Jeongguk was telling Changkyun about his new daddy in between coloring his card.

“He’s just like you said he was! He’s nice, and he’s funny, and he’s always smiling around me and mommy!” he told him ecstatically. Changkyun was happy his young friend had found him, and so soon too!, but there was still allot more work to do.

“Does he love you and your mommy?” he asked before meticulously slamming a Hulk sticker right beside his drawing of a rocket. Here the toddler frowned unsure of how to answer that. “Idunno. He hasn’t said it. How do I know?” he croaked, his throat still sore from his earlier crying. His friend hmm’d as he thought as deep as a two year old could possibly go, which as some might know is pretty darn deep, before finally coming up with an answer.

“When my daddy loves me the most, it’s when he’s hugging me if I’m sad. Or fixing one of my boo-boo’s. And making me feel better when I’m sick. With my mommy, he kinda does the same only he kisses allot more. Oh wait! Your mommy’s sick now right? So uh, you could see how he does with him first and that’ll show if he loves you or not.” Changkyun said pleased with his response. Jeongguk wasn’t as fond as this plan as the ones before. “But what if he doesn’t love us?” he replied sadly. He really really liked Hobi, he could almost say he loved him, and he really really _really_ wanted him to be his daddy. How could Hobi be his daddy if he didn’t even love him? Again, Changkyun went quiet as he thought carefully about his answer.

“Maybe...time? Like um, um...I didn’t really like eggs. They looked really gross and I wouldn’t eat them. But then, mommy made this stuff called a tamo..ta-tamo gaku...it was an egg roll and it was really tasty! So then I ate more stuff with eggs and realized that even though it kinda looks gross, it’s actually really tasty! So maybe that’s what your daddy has to do. He just has to keep being around you and your mommy and then he’ll love you forever and always.”  

Jeongguk thought it over, and while he’d like for his daddy to love them now and that’s that, he understood what his friend was saying. It had been the same with him and applesauce after all. Ok, so he found his daddy, now he just had to make sure he and mommy became his new eggs and applesauce. Completely doable.

“Oh and you should probably get them to kiss too.”

 

\------------------------------------

 

The next morning saw a pleasant sight at the hospital where, at least according to Yoongi since he was freaking finally getting released. Though per hospital rules, he was stuck in a wheelchair until he physically left the hospital and was being entertained by his son and godson telling him about his very detailed get well card while Kihyun handled signing him out and Jooheon got their car pulled around. Yoongi had never felt more lucky or gratified for a boss like Kim Seokjin; after finding out that while sick days may not accrue for another few months, his insurance was immediately put in place the day after he’d agreed to his promotion. Which was great seeing as he’d had no idea how he was going to pay for everything. Surprisingly, it had been Jin himself who informed him of this after calling Hoseok for more details who then in turn called Kihyun (who he had given his number to the day before) who then in turn told Yoongi who had been highkey stressing about the whole thing. Now all he had to do was stress about how he was going to pay his rent that was due in less than a week. That was a perfectly manageable level of stress to him.

“Alright, everything’s been settled. Got everything?” Kihyun asked walking back from the nurses station. Yoongi merely nodded and held up his small paper bag of antibiotics and a complimentary bottle of electrolyte solution in green apple flavor. He wasn’t too big on the flavor but anything was better than another moment with an IV needle stuck in his arm. Jeongguk refused to get out of his mother’s lap at Kihyun’s insistence but Changkyun clamored down in order to help push the chair. Getting into the car had been trickier than he’d first believed with his unstable legs and his still weak lungs but once Yoongi was in, they took off for the Yoo-Lee household semi-celebratory brunch of “At Least It Wasn’t Serious This Time, Min Yoongi” (and yes, Kihyun did indeed come up with the name).

Yoongi wasn’t really all that excited about the whole brunch idea, but he knew it was a small way on his list of making it up to both Kihyun and Jooheon (who had thankfully not burst into tears at seeing him like he had been afraid of). When they arrived at the home, Yoongi was met with his second surprise of the day in the form of Hoseok standing there with a large gift bag in one hand and shopping bags in the other. The omega was only briefly reminded of the previous day where Kihyun had invited the man over for their brunch but had checked it up to-hopefully-a drug induced dream. Sadly this didn’t seem to be the case.

“Hoseok-ssi, you’re early! I hope you found the house alright.” Kihyun welcomed the man as he stepped car leaving Yoongi to continue staring in open mouth amazement. That evil little shit never sounded that nice to anyone. He barely heard Jeongguk’s excited babble about Hobi being there and was instead attempting to overhear the ongoing conversation.

“Well I wanted to come by early to help out if that was ok. And yes! Your directions were really detailed, Kihyun-ssi. I bet you’re more accurate than most GPS.” Hoseok replied laughing loudly and Kihyun (that bastard) had the audacity to titter-titter!-bashfully. Yoongi tried to catch Jooheon’s attention because out of all of them he was the only one who could semi-successfully reel in Yoo Kihyun but the man was too busy getting both toddlers out of their respective car seats.

“Ah, babe! Maybe I should do that, y’know because your back?” Kihyun called out suddenly right beside him. Jooheon looked at his husband confused. “My back? What’s wrong with m-AIEEE!” Yoongi would bet three months rent his friend was up to something from the way Jooheon now had a magically aching back when it came to getting him and the kids out the car. “You just get into the house, babe, I’ll get the boys. Oh wait, how are we going to get Yoongi out?” Yoongi felt his eye twitch as his friend spoke about and around him as if he wasn’t actually right there.

“Ah, Kihyun-ssi? Is there a problem?”

“Oh, Hoseok-ssi! I have a rather odd request,” that fucking goblin better not, “would you mind helping Yoongi out the car? Jooheon hurt his back the other day and we don’t want it getting worse.” Kihyun gave the other alpha a sheepish innocent look and smile that would’ve fooled Yoongi had he not known that he was the actual living embodiment of Satan. Unfortunately, Hoseok did fall for it and after dropping his bags on the porch quickly came to Yoongi’s side of the car. The older man barely had time to hiss and glare at his offending friend who had quickly unbuckled the two toddlers and gotten them out the car while Jooheon was moving suspiciously quick for someone with such a recent “injury.” Meddling bastards, the whole lot. He tried to avoid looking at Hoseok as he reached around his waist to check and make sure his seatbelt was unbuckled before sliding one beneath his knees and the other behind his back. The sudden flush on Yoongi’s face, if he was dared ask, was from the heat of the outdoors and nothing more dammit.

It was weird being lifted out of a car as if he weighed nothing, it was weirder still the way his heart nearly leaped into his throat as he unconsciously folded closer to the younger’s broad chest. Fuck, he thought the guy sat behind a desk all day what could he be doing to get an upper body like this? “You don’t really have to do this, I’m probably heavy anyway-”

“What are you talking about?! You weigh almost nothing! In fact, you should probably start eating more, this can’t be healthy.” Hoseok interrupted giving him a meaningful stare. Yoongi flushed from embarrassment having heard a near half hour lecture from his doctor about his unhealthy habits (practically all of them) and what he’d need to do now to counteract them. He most definitely did not need a repeat performance of that lecture; especially by someone carrying him like a damned damsel. So he did the mature and reasonable thing and pouted for the longest minute and a fifteen seconds it took for Hoseok to carry him into the home and place softly onto the couch. Only for Yoongi to immediately be accosted by Jeongguk and Changkyun who were still his designated “get well helpers.”

They followed this up by such tasks as getting as many blankets as they could possibly carry (three) and wrapping him up before also bringing out his super special get well card (“The lollipop was a very nice touch Changkyunnie but you didn’t have to stick it like that”), their very favorite toys (an Iron Man doll with light up repulsors, a Cookie Monster plush, various lego people, and Changkyun was about to also bring out his control operated T-Rex before Kihyun finally put his foot down) and of course randomly checking on their “patient” by taking his temperature and giving lots of hugs. Yoongi allowed all of this and even gave the little boys words of praise for their great nursing which had Changkyun blushing and Jeongguk beaming with pride.

Kihyun was-of course-in the kitchen getting the brunch together with Jooheon as his assistant, “bad back” and all. Lastly, Hoseok had been relegated into keeping Yoongi company with the boys (though the way he had said it made the omega want to get up and jam his foot down his throat) while they got everything in order. Eventually even the boys got tired of playing nurse/doctor and went into their room to play until the food was ready. Every now and then Jeongguk would pop his head out into the living as if to ensure his mother was still there before popping back into the room.

“Y’know, I know I’ve said it a lot before, but he really is adorable.” Hoseok had a tinge of awe in his voice that had Yoongi snorting.

“Don’t let him hear you, he’ll get conceited and then he’ll never listen to me.” the man drawled absentmindedly petting Cookie Monster smirking as his companion laughed. He eyed the large gift bag still at the other’s foot and Hoseok must’ve seen his looks as he began to cough awkwardly.

“Uh, well, after I got home yesterday I went online and researched y’know, how to get better and stuff and I um. I didn’t know if you had one already, I mean you probably do bu-but it never hurts to have two right?-” Yoongi couldn’t take any more of Hoseok’s blabbering and used whatever strength he had left to sit up and actually look at what was inside the bag. Nestled between crumpled gift paper was a new humidifier in the shape of a panda with two bottles of distilled water standing next to it. He gaped at the gift and at the man giving it to him and wondered for possibly the hundredth time just what was this guy. Who gets a man they’ve known for maybe a month tops a brand new fucking humidifier! And a cute one at that! The fucking nerve!

“You hate it don’t you? I kinda waffled between a plain blue one and this one but I thought the panda was really cute and I thought it’d be a nice touch but I mean if you don’t like it I can just take it back it’s really no big-”

“No! No I-I’m, I like it.” Yoongi interrupted his rambling and maybe shouldn’t have shouted since there were now three sets of eyes on him. “What I mean is that. Uhm. Thank you, Hos-Hobi-ssi. You didn’t have to, especially after everything you’ve already done.” “For me” being the part he left out though he was sure the other got it. Hoseok for the most part let out a large gust of air from relief and gave his usual bright grin.

“It was no problem! Ah! I also have some essential oils. Namjoon said they’re really good for opening up clogged airways and y’know energizing stuff. To be honest I got maybe half of what he was saying, when he gets on a topic he likes he tends to ramble and I was already afraid I was going to be late between the oils and Jin’s cooking.”

“Wait, what cooking? Why would Jin-ssi be cooking?” Hoseok made a face at the other man.

“You know you can just call him ‘hyung,’ right? He wouldn’t mind, in fact I bet he’d be thrilled.” Yoongi countered his face with one of his own imagining calling his _boss_ “hyung.” He had just reached a point of tipsy familiarity with the man, he didn’t want to think about calling him that just yet. “Anyway he’s been beside himself this whole time thinking it’s partially his fault that you got so sick thinking he’s been overworking you,” Yoongi felt another familiar thrum of guilt run through him, “so when he heard I’d be seeing you today he made me promise to bring by some food for you and Jeongguk since y’know, you probably won’t be doing that much cooking while recuperating.” Hoseok finished shooting the man a look as if knowing he’d try to strain himself while he was trying to recuperate from straining himself. Perish the thought.

“That was nice of him. I’ll have to call him soon to tell him I’m alright and apologize for all the fuss.” Yoongi thought he said the last part soft enough that the other wouldn’t hear him but from the scoff he apparently wasn’t quiet enough.

“Please let me be there for that apology so I can hear his reaction. Oo, let’s do it in person so you can see it too!” Hoseok implored snickering at scowl sent his way. “What? You may not know this yet, but Kim Seokjin is sixty percent bad jokes and fifty percent fuss, so apologizing for his fussing is like getting mad a the sun for being hot.”

“That makes him one hundred and ten percent.”

“Well yeah, gotta account for those shoulders!”

It was probably not meant to be that funny, but Yoongi couldn’t hold in his laughter even clutching at his sides. So much so that he didn’t notice the pointed looks Kihyun was giving the pair of them but Hoseok did if the redness at the back of his neck and tips of his ears meant anything. “The food’s almost ready so you can come take a seat at the table, Yoongi. Hoseok-ssi, if you don’t mind, could you go get the boys cleaned up? Jooheon’s back and all.” Kihyun’s voice floated over to them promptly causing Yoongi to scowl as he remembered his friend’s lie but still tried to comply. Emphasis on try. Apparently, sitting in a chair for about two hours was enough for his bones and muscles to liquify and it took an embarrassingly long time for him to wiggle back up.

Thankfully Hoseok had already left to get the boys and missed his embarrassing struggle as he shuffled his way to the dining table. Kihyun tutted about insolent hyungs and helped him the rest of the way and gently helped him into a seat. Jooheon was already at the table having to keep up the premise of his “bad back” and only offered the older man a sheepish grin before loud guffaws and giggles could be heard coming from the hallway leading to the boy’s bathroom.

“He seems really good with kids.” Jooheon remarked with an easy grin while Yoongi hummed in response. “Yeah, he’s really close to his godsons so that’s probably why.” Later he would blame the illness for not being as perceptive as he usually was to miss the shared look between husbands.

“How’d you know that, hyung? He talk about them a lot?”

“That and I’ve seen it. Their mom’s my boss and when he found out I had a son around their age he started making playdates and sometimes Hoseok will be there when he can’t.”

“How often is ‘sometimes’?” Kihyun asked placing some more dishes of food on the table. Yoongi thought about it for a second as he inhaled the flavorful aroma from all the delicious food.

“Well, we’ve only really scheduled about three or four and I think he’s been there...at least for all of them.” he answered in surprise. Saying it out loud made him realize just how frequent Hoseok had been hanging around him and Jeongguk and, disturbingly, made him realize just how much he actually looked forward to seeing him there. What the actual hell.

“And he’s never bothered with that? Sometimes godparents just want time for themselves and their little ones.” Jooheon interrupted his steadily declining thoughts with all new ones. Yoongi paused for moment to think back to all the times they were around each other with the kids and how often than not Hoseok would always be the one most excited. “No? I mean, sometimes he’s even the one to suggest different places for us to go? Like a few weeks ago he took us to that indoor children’s gym. The one with all those trampolines and shit.”

“Language, and really? I remembered when that opened; Kyunnie’s been begging ever since to go there-”

“When you say ‘we’ you mean...all of you? Together?” Kihyun interrupted placing the last dish on the table. He would really be blaming his illness for just how inattentive he was being to his friend’s looks but at the moment all man did was nod.

“Yeah, it was kinda out farther than our usual park and he offered to give us all a lift in his car rather for just me and Gukkie to take the bus.” Yoongi replied with an offhanded shrug. Again he missed the traded looks between husbands as Hoseok finally arrived at the table with two freshly clean boys one tucked under his arm and another clinging to his leg. “We’re all cleaned and ready to eat!”

“Thank you again Hoseok-ssi, you can take your seat now. The boys know what to do, right boys?” Both toddlers quickly nodded and clamored into their own kiddie chairs that were situated next to each other with their own small plates ready for them. Kihyun claimed the seat beside the boys with the only available seat being right next to Yoongi.  How fucking convenient.

Luckily for him, the sheer magnitude of the feast in front of them took most of the pressure off of him as they started piling their plates and enjoying. Due to his illness, Yoongi mainly focused on   his bowl of kongnamul guk with a small helping of rice and cabbage while everyone else enjoyed the heartier gamjatang, kimchijeon, japchae, kongnamool, and other various side dishes that had Hoseok drooling. He usually never ate this good unless he was willing to pay top won or go home for the weekend! “Ahh, Kihyun-ssi! You made so much I don’t know where to even start!” he mock pouted with a laugh before going for the beef soup and pancakes.

 

The brunch went off without a hitch with Kihyun’s food being the well deserved star of the event though not for said man’s attempts at something else. Throughout the meal he would ask veily disguised questions towards Hoseok about his job and his life shooting looks all the while to Yoongi when he thought they passed his imaginary test. Yoongi for the most part used the technically true excuse of still having weak vocal chords to keep from talking, or snapping at his friend for being an annoying son of a bitch. Jooheon wasn’t much help but thankfully nor was aiding his husband but genuinely enjoyed the other alpha’s presence and spent the time discussing their favorite shows or the comeback to an idol group they both followed.

Before anyone realized, it was well into the afternoon bordering nearly into early evening and Yoongi decided this would be the right time for him and Jeongguk to head on home. Hoseok, much to his chagrin and Kihyun’s glee, offered to take them home before remembering that he’d taken out his booster seats a few days before (“I always forget how disgusting those things can get if you don’t clean them out!”) and quickly retracted his offer. The older omega waved away his apologies and assured him that Kihyun was a more than decent driver despite his otherwise height and temperament suggested. Yoongi was then reminded that the only reason he could still walk without a loafer lodged in his colon was due to Kihyun’s continued good will and his fear he’d lose his favorite shoe forever. Jooheon then piped in that all this talks of colons were not aiding in his digestion and to please change the subject.

Hoseok left first making sure to give gratuitous hair ruffles-or hugs in Jeongguk’s case-to the kids and handshakes to everyone else (Yoongi claimed he didn’t want to contaminate Hoseok with his disease when he still had work to which Kihyun chimed that you couldn’t catch stupid which started a whole new argument) before he finally left.

“I don’t know what the actual hell you think you’re trying to accomplish but leave me the fuck out.” Yoongi groused.

“Language! And I have no idea what you’re talking about. You’re probably still delirious from the flu, we should take you home, hyung.” Kihyun offered innocently. He just hummed but did agree he was more tired than he’d thought and allowed them to help him back out to their car. Between the car ride and the full belly of food, it was a battle of wills to keep his eyes open, a battle his son lost in the first five minutes. When they arrived, it took a combined effort to not fall lose his balance on the stairs (of course the elevator was out again this week) carrying containers of food and of course his new humidifier. By the time they arrived at Yoongi’s floor he was ready to just fall in bed and hibernate for a few weeks but was surprised to see his landlady by his door.

“Minso-nim. I’m sorry if you’ve been waiting, I recently just got back from a...unexpected trip.” The older woman didn’t seem to believe him but luckily didn’t call him out for it.

“It’s no troubles Min Yoongi-ssi, I was just coming to inform you that while I’ll accept it this time, please be sure to tell your partner to place the name of the apartment on the right line. Most time banks don’t seem to notice but one should always be careful.” Yoongi shot her a confused look. “Partner? I’m not-what exactly do you mean, Minso-nim.” Now the landlady was giving him the weird confused looks.

“The young man who came by to pay your month’s rent isn’t your partner? I only assumed since it’s not every day we get unmated men pay other unmated people’s way. Especially unmateded parents.” she threw a cursory look over at Jeongguk who was still asleep in Yoongi’s arms. Before any more could be said she threw out that again, she’d only accept it this time because it was before the due date but next time she wouldn’t be so lenient before leaving down the stairwell. He waited until they were in his apartment before rounding on to Kihyun asking him what the hell had he done. Immediately the man threw up his hands in a placating manner. “I swear, hyung, this wasn’t me or Jooheon. You know we would’ve just given you the money before doing something like this.” The implied “like we have before” hung between them but it still assured Yoongi that his friend wasn’t the culprit. It couldn’t have been anyone from his group since he hadn’t yet alerted anyone what had happened and it definitely couldn’t have been Jin since he didn’t even know where the other omega lived. Which only left him with one other.

He could feel his anger physically bubbling under his skin as his trembling hands reached into his pockets for his phone. He didn’t even hear Kihyun’s protests and calls that he should think first before doing anything rash as he searched his contacts and smashed the call button. The phone only rang twice before a concerned Hoseok picked up.

“Hello, hyung? Are you ok?! Has something else happened?!” Yoongi took a deep breath possibly hoping it would calm him down before quickly realizing that nope, it wasn’t.

“What the actual fuck were you thinking coming by my apartment and paying my goddamn rent, huh? You think you could just waltz your way in like some sort of fairy tale night and I’d fall into bed like some damsel omega begging for your knot?”

“What!? No! Yoongi, listen, that’s not what I was-”

“I don’t fucking care what you were trying or thinking or anything! Stay the fuck away from me. Forget me and forget this number or I swear I’ll make you wish you had.” Yoongi hung up on the other’s protests still literally shaking with his anger and when he heard it ring he instead turned it off instead of throwing it like he wanted. Kihyun stayed silent on the matter not wanting the man to suddenly turn his anger on him and Jeongguk, who had woken up at his mother’s angry tones, was now whining not liking the sudden tension in the room.

“Kihyun, do you mind just...just put everything in the kitchen. I’ll put it up tomorrow.” Yoongi said tonelessly trying to offer comfort to his son. The other man just nodded, not even thinking to argue, while Yoongi shuffled towards his room. Even behind a closed door, the thin walls of his apartment still allowed him to hear everything Kihyun did as he laid down on his bed with Jeongguk snuggled into his chest. As the rage left his system, the underlying shame and self consciousness swept chilling him leaving him to cuddle his son for imaginary warmth and wonder why for a man he’d spent the last day excusing their closeness did he find himself nearly aching with betrayal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyy  
> soo  
> yeah  
> I left forever and gave you guys heartbreak  
> Classic me right?  
> yell at me in the comments~


	6. Rainy Season

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yoongi and Hoseok reflect and a figure from the past finally emerges

Hoseok was a man of habit and direction despite what his laundry, unloaded dishwasher, and empty day planners his mom kept giving him at Christmas told about him. He got up, went to work, came home, went to sleep, repeat. His only variation came in the form of him being with his godsons or hanging out with their parents, occasionally going out for drinks, volunteering at the nearby dance studio, or visiting home. Somehow along the way spending time with Yoongi and Jeongguk became part of this routine and he didn’t really notice how much until it was ripped away the way it was. It was his fault for it, he was man enough to admit that even if at the time he felt he was doing what was right. He could sometimes misinterpret signs to the point of nonrecognition but Yoongi’s had been glaringly bright and he had no one else to blame but himself. And no matter how many of his calls went unanswered and texts unread he couldn’t stop that line of thinking.

While he hadn’t done it for the reasons the other might’ve suggested, he was right to yell at Hoseok for basically butting in where he wasn’t invited or implying that he was needed. But he really hadn’t meant for it to come to this! Sure, he had thought the elder would’ve been angry with him but, stupidly, he’d assumed he’d be more relieved at the thought of not having to pay rent and make him run errands or other make up gestures. Not just cut the man out their lives completely. What’s worse is that he couldn’t even escape the omega’s ire in his dreams; no longer were they the warm cosy feelings of home and belonging. Instead he regularly found himself following shadows of two figures, one large one small, and just before he could catch even a glimpse at them he would wake up sometimes with a hand outstretched like this morning. Hoseok glanced blearily at his phone to note he had a few minutes before his alarm would go off but decided the extra time wasn’t worth it and got up. It was coming up on his third week of being shut out and his second of these weird new dreams but there wasn’t much he could do. After the first night, Hoseok toyed with leaving more voice messages fully explaining himself to even going up to Jin’s office to try and run into him before coming to the conclusion that this would just seem creepy.This was also his conclusion when he entertained the thought of actually visiting the apartment to try and catch him. Unfortunately though, he couldn’t bring it in himself to actually stop texting.

Before The Screw Up™ Hoseok had gotten Yoongi’s number after about the second time meeting up at the park with the kids and after an embarrassingly long deliberation, he’d started with a simple good morning message the next day. When he didn’t hear anything back the entire day he’d freaked out imagining worst case scenarios where the other man either thought Hoseok was coming onto him and was disgusted or thought Hoseok was coming onto him and was flattered but uninterested. Honestly at the time he hadn’t been sure which was worse. Luckily at the merry time of eight o’clock the next evening, Yoongi informed him he rarely looked at his phone when not at work and he was sorry to miss his text. He also sent him a good evening text with an apology emoji. Hoseok had had to lay down for a bit after seeing that because ohmygooodddddddd could this man get any cuter?! He hoped he couldn't. His weak heart wouldn’t be able to take it. But this also started a rather shuttered text exchange in which one of them would wish the other good morning and then odd texts would be sent here or there, mostly by Hoseok (sitting at his desk could get exhausting like you have no idea) but the rare ones Yoongi sent nearly always had him in stitches from his dry sometimes scathing humor. Then the person who hadn’t sent the first text would be the one to send the good night and it’d repeat the next day. If Yoongi remembered that is.

The day of Yoongi’s incident he had only been able to send his usual “good morning” before being immediately swamped by travel expense reports and new customers trying to be beat the Chuseok rush tickets out of town that he hadn’t realized the other hadn’t even responded. And then The Screw Up™ happened and...Hoseok just, never stopped texting. At first it was some begging Yoongi to pick up, then there were longer ones with full apologies attached, and then later down the line he just kept going. He continued the good morning tradition including questions about his health if he was still feeling bad or if he was getting better, if he was eating, if he was still dehydrated. During the day he might send a few quips about a customer, or a fussy coworker, how he tried the new popup ramen shop and doesn’t think he was better than his usual favorite down near the movie plex. On and on day after day, if his friends found out they’d probably think he had some sort of complex, he was sure of it but he just couldn’t make himself stop. So maybe it was a complex. Or his self inflicted penance; text someone who’s made it more than clear they didn’t want you in their life anymore. Ninety-seven percent of Hoseok understood this bright and clear but there was this stubborn three percent that remained obtuse. And on sluggish days like today, where the skies were overcast with fat lazy clouds who refused to drop any rain nor hinder the humidity of a slowly ending summer, he tended to listen more to that percent than the rest.

 

_“Good morning”_

 

_“I hope you brought an umbrella. The weather says it’s not going to rain, but when have they ever been right?”_

 

_“I hope you and Jeongguk stay dry”_

 

_“Do you think humidity secretly slows down the day?”_

 

_“Because it feels like I’ve been wading in sand forever but it’s barely 9”_

 

_“I hope you eat something healthy for lunch”_

 

_“I miss you”_

 

Hoseok deletes the last message. He always deletes the last message yet it’s never stopped him from typing it every day.

The rain still hasn’t fallen.

 

* * *

 

Yoongi thinks he’s a masochist for allowing this to go on as long as it has. After the first days he deliberated the idea of blocking Hoseok’s number or even going as far as deleting it but somehow he’s always put it off. Dishes to clean, laundry to do, medicine to take, general adulting stuff that forced him to keep his phone within hearing distance but not close enough that he could see the contact name whenever it vibrated. Not like there were many people trying to contact him. After his first day back in his apartment, Seokjin was adamant about him not coming back to the office until he was at 110%  but after some well placed whining and pouting, he’d allocated some files to be sent via email so Yoongi didn’t feel completely useless. After that, most of their communication stayed through email (and with the younger omega silently judging his boss for the stars and sparkles that came with his email signature). Kihyun usually called just once near the evening to ensure his hyung had actually taken his medication for the day and wasn’t overworking himself (“said the pot to the kettle” Yoongi once swore) but essentially left him to his own devices. Which of course left him with the last person he really didn’t want to talk to at the moment.

During the first week after their separation, and he really didn’t want to keep calling it that for all that world supplied but it unfortunately fit, he used his anger as a buoy to keep reminding him of why he wasn’t listening to his messages or responding to the texts. By the beginning of the second week when he noticed the texts kept coming, he grew more exasperated and ended up blocking Hoseok. And then unblocking a minute after much to his dismay. It went back and forth like this where he kept up an internal running dialogue of reasons why he should block and delete this number but unfortunately something kept him from fulfilling it. On a Tuesday during the third week he actually deleted the number then freaked out when his phone wouldn’t bring it back nearly losing himself to a mild panic attack before Hoseok texted him barely half an hour later reminding him to change the water in his filter. After he had, Yoongi re-saved Hoseok’s contact and flopped backwards onto his bed trying to stifle his groans as his son slept a few feet away. What was he doing? Why couldn’t he just let him go? He still thought the alpha was an idiot for doing what he had done, and yes after he’d calmed down he could understand where he was coming from but the fact of the matter was that Hoseok had done something like this behind his back and hadn’t thought to tell him. Even if he hadn’t meant to, Hoseok had broken Yoongi’s trust in him, and it was something he just couldn’t forgive. Not again.

 

 

* * *

 

The rain started light on Hoseok’s way into the office, but ever the cautious one he still brought his umbrella in with him just in case. Irregular water droplets hit against the glass of his car as he drove and as he rode up the elevator to his floor. The rain seemed to be wavering between whether or not it should actually be there by the time he left the office for lunch and was barely even felt when he returned. However it finally made up its mind around four in the afternoon when a sudden downpour nearly shook the windows of those lucky enough to have them and the sky darkened with thick cloud covering. Hoseok just sighed and continued finishing up the last of his paperwork, hopeful that if he finished quick enough he could beat the worst of the storm while heading home. He even worked through lunch not wanting to eat any of the instant they kept in the kitchen for instances like these but also not wanting to spend money on a stale overpriced sandwich from the coffee stand on the first floor. He ignored his stomach wagering that he had enough kimchi and leftover rice to make a decent stir fry and kept this in mind as he plowed through hopeful the rain would lessen. The rain continued thundering down letting out deep rumbles of thunder every so often and rarely a flash of lightning.

As luck would have it, Hoseok was able to finish most of his time consuming paperwork with everything else being filed away haphazardly into his messenger bag to take home. Even though it was only late in the afternoon, the skies had darkened to the point where streetlights were being manually turned on. He knew there would be some hardened workers in the building who would decide to stay, but he hoped that the ones who had children there would at least see sense to leave early. He tried not to think of one person in particular as he bade goodbye to the stragglers of his office and left for the elevators. Once on the ground floor, he could see how deserted the building was becoming and noticed that the daycare was dark and closed off, the first he’d ever seen it. He truly hoped they had just closed for the day rather than imagining all those scared kids during a blackout. Thankfully it was the former from large handwritten signs taped to the windows and door of the daycare. He was so preoccupied with his worry, he never noticed the elevator doors opening again until he heard a loud shriek and was barely able to turn towards it before his knees were assaulted. Looking down, Hoseok found himself swimming in large doe brown eyes and a bright bunny smile that squeezed his heart. His cheeks stretched out into a wan smile on their own accord and he didn’t realize he’d lifted a hand until their were buried into Jeongguk’s feathered hair.

“HobiHobi!”

 

==

==

 

Jeongguk had never ever _ever_ been mad at his mommy before. His mommy, to him, was perfect in every single way and no one could ever convince him otherwise. But after he’d yelled at Hobi and then he hadn’t seen the other man in literally forever, he couldn’t help but be just a little bit mad at his mommy. Just a little though because he’d been sick for a while and he’d promised his uncles and Hobi that’d he be a Big Boy Helper and make sure his mommy got better. This however did not stop him missing his daddy-to-be one bit. He had hoped that when his mommy got better they would go back to the park and he would see his Hobi again like they usually did, but they didn’t. In fact it’s been a very very veerryy long time since he went to the park he played with Taetae and Jiminie and he hadn’t thought he’d actually miss those two (Jiminie liked to make them play house allot and he alwassyyss ended up playing the daddy while Jeongguk was made the baby. Taetae liked to switch though, sometimes he’d play another baby, or a dog, or the chef/mailman/teacher). And what made everything worse to him is that his mommy seemed sadder since his daddy had been away, which didn’t make any sense to him since he’d heard his Uncle Kih keep talking about his phone. He wasn’t completely sure what phones did, but he knew that if he pressed some buttons a game would come on, or a video, but also he could call someone far far away.

Apparently his daddy had been doing that allot but his mommy wasn’t talking to him which made him sad but also really really annoyed. He missed his daddy! It had seemed like today would match all his other daddy-less days, the only bright spot being that he hadn’t had to stay in daycare too long meaning they were gonna go home even sooner, and he was already grumpy because he didn’t like the rain much. It was wet and it made his nose tingle and thunder was scary. Much scarier than the microwave, though just a little. His mommy had already put him in his [Keroppi raincoat](https://id-live.slatic.net/original/b2a092764931e4110826173a2123c4e6.jpg) and was shuffling through his bag as they road to the first floor and when the elevator doors opened, a miracle happened. It was his daddy! His daddy was right there again! He hadn’t even bothered waiting for his mommy, nor did he hear his shouts as he ran full speed at the other man and clung with all he had once he reached him. He’d missed his Hobi lots!

“HobiHobi!”

His Hobi was smiling but it wasn’t his normal happy smile, it kinda reminded him of the smiles his mommy sometimes gave, the ones that weren’t his special favorite sneaky ones. He wasn’t sure he liked this smile. And he wasn’t even talking! His Hobi usually talked and talked and talked!

“Hobi sick?” Jeongguk asked worried. What was with all his adults getting sick all of a sudden?! At least the smile he got from Hobi was better than the earlier one.

“No Gukkie, I’m not sick. Where’s your mommy, huh? Have you ran away again?” Hoseok teased the toddler causing him to beam up wordlessly. If he didn’t answer he wouldn’t get in trouble, he’d learned that a while ago. Soon enough, his mommy was right by them no longer looking through his bag but instead of scolding Jeongguk like he usually did, he was staring at his Hobi. Maybe his mommy could help!

“Mommy! Hobi sick!”

 

==

==

 

Yoongi was so not up for this confrontation. He wouldn’t have been up for any type of confrontation to be honest but he was even less up for one during a freaking hurricane with his toddler in tow without a functioning umbrella. It was like the Gods themselves had taken a break from some other poor schmuck’s life and decided to meddle in his with the way things lined up. It was raining, the daycare closed because they didn’t have enough workers able to get through the rain, his umbrella got broken by some fat ass sitting on it earlier on the bus, and now he had to face Jung Hoseok the man he’d been deliberately avoiding for nearly a month. Surely he’d been an unrighteous feudal lord in a past life to deserve this sort of bad karma. Hoseok, for the most part, looked about as enthused as he was about their forced interaction but luckily kept his smile on his face as to not upset Kookie. Who was still happily clinging and babbling to him.

“I’m really fine, Yoongi-ssi, you-there’s nothing to worry about.” Hoseok piped in with a small polite nod of his head and god didn’t that knock him. He didn’t know which was worse; the polite toneless quality or “Yoongi-ssi.” He could only sigh softly and hide how his words affected him; after all it was his fault wasn’t it? He’d been the one to cut off all contact and now here he was throwing a hissy fit that the other was following along. Ugh, he just wanted to get home, take a bath with one of his bombs (today felt like a sakura blossom kind of day), drink a bottle of flavored seltzer water (Kihyun had confiscated all his alcohol the day after he came back from the hospital the dictator) and fucking not think about Jung Hoseok. The worst part about all of this was even if he only did two out of three, Hoseok would still be there.

“Mommy! Patches!”

Jeongguk didn’t like the silence that had overtaken them and decided to remind his mother of the severity of their situation. Mainly that His Hoseok Was Sick.

Hoseok for the most part was bemused at the whole thing while also curious as to what the toddler meant by “patches.” Yoongi just sighed knowing exactly what he meant and tried to force a stern look onto his face. “Gukkie, listen, we need to leave Hob-Hoseok-ssi alone so we can get home.” According to scrolling news reports, the weather was only going to get worse into the evening and he very much wanted to be out of it when that worst eventually came. The toddler, of course, would not listen to reason and impossibly tightened his hold on Hoseok’s pant leg (the man in context wondering why a baby was even so strong in the first place like, ow) and only babbled angrily up at his mother. Hoseok wasn’t quite as efficient in baby babbling as say Jin was, he had hung around the twins plenty when they were babies sure but Tae’s babbling had been just random noises and Jimin had been so cute and shy he merely pointed at things he wanted until he started talking. Suffice to say, he was woefully under qualified to translate whatever both Min’s were saying as Yoongi began arguing back though his words seemed to get swallowed by his son’s angry louder ones.

“Fine! But after this we’re going straight home, no exceptions!” the omega could feel a pulsing vein in his forehead from arguing and couldn’t even rub it because he had to dig through his knapsack. Jeongguk, of course, was looking smugly over at his mother and up at Hoseok only murmuring the words “patch” and “better.” Before he knew it, Yoongi was now standing right in front of him with pink staining his cheeks holding a small Pororo penguin fever patch. “Just. Just go with it, for the kid alright?” he murmured avoiding looking into the taller’s man’s eyes as he peeled open the patch and gently placed it onto his forehead. Hoseok could feel the heat from the other’s fingertips on his forehead which completely negated the slight cooling sensation he was now getting from the patch. Jeongguk however was finally satisfied and allowed himself to be hoisted up by his mother to see his handwork. “Hobi better?” he asked expectantly. He knew he should just smile and say yes so they could all get on their way but this feeling, the same stubborn three percent had lodged itself into his throat and wouldn’t be appeased until he spoke his truth.

“My heart still hurts though. Could I-is there a patch for that?” Shit. Double shit. Triple axel into a salchow shit. If Yoongi had thought he was creep before, how was he going to react now!?

Yoongi was feeling about the same though his brain instead of raging had come to a complete stall. What was he supposed to do?! Just accept it this time and hope the next it would be something this minuscule? In the light of a new day, even an eternal pessimist like him could admit paying someone’s rent wasn’t even in the same category as locking them in a closet but-still. Wasn’t there principles? Didn’t he have a right to make a stand? Hadn’t he explained this all to him before? Unbidden, an answer jumped to the forefront of his mind with a solid exasperated “ _No._ ” He had bitten first and hadn’t even stayed around long enough to think of a question to ask. Because he knew better...he thought he knew better. Because they were all the same! Because he’d never met anyone like Jung Hoseok! Because he could change and then where would he be?! Because-

“Maybe..with time. There could be.”

Hoseok blinked in surprise at the suddenness of Yoongi’s voice after the long stretch of silence, but once the words started ruminating in his brain his eyes widened. Did he mean that? Could they? Before he could ask, the man had already turned away pulling up his son’s raincoat hood but still having nothing to protect himself. Still unthinking, he ran after them calling out Yoongi’s name at least still having the presence of mind to not touch him without permission. He handed the other his full sized umbrella and without any more being said, he ran out into the dark foreboding storm feeling lighter than he had in awhile.

 

 

* * *

 

When Hoseok finally reached his apartment he was only two third soaked, most of it coming from him running into the rain for his parked car. He immediately began stripping his clothes once he reached his front door dropping his keys and bag as he went before he was naked in his bathroom turning on his shower before bracing himself for the cold. Thankfully the water warmed quickly and he was able to take a decent shower before finally drying himself. It was only after when he was sitting in his living room watching a soccer game he had no interest in, still towel drying his hair, and waiting for his food to heat did he heart the familiar text tone of his phone. Remembering his discarded items, he picked around his clothes and bag before finding it then nearly dropping it again when he saw who it was from.

 

_**Thank you for the umbrella. It was very appreciated. And for Jeongguk...again. How do you want me to give it back? I feel bad knowing you’re without one.** _

 

Oh, Hoseok _yearned._

Yoongi’s soft tentative forgiveness still burned bright within him even after his sprinting in the cold rain and it opened doors he honestly had no idea he housed. How he wanted to tell the other how much he’d missed them. How his weekends dragged without their outings. How he knew so much better on what to do now; how he was going to be a better friend for them. A better man, a better...a better _alpha._

Hoseok looked over the text again, a soft keening sound escaping him without notice. He wanted to say they could keep it. He wanted to say it was no big deal. He wanted to say that if it’d been up to him, he would’ve dragged them to his car kicking and screaming and drove them home. He wanted he wanted he wanted

 

_You can drop it off at the desk in the main lobby. I’ll pick it up there. Thanks. :)_

 

Hoseok screamed into his couch pillow for a very long time.

 

==

==

 

Yoongi planned to do exactly what he thought early to once they got home safely and thankfully not soaked to the bone. He dragged his son out of his wet clothes allowing a brief moment to run around the small space naked and screeching (hey, he’s not one to judge) while he ran his bath. Once he had Jeongguk clean, dry, and into his second favorite pair of pajamas (Anpanman) he decided to forgo his own bath after the toddler was asleep and instead just changed into his warmest lounging sweatshirt and joggers as he looked over what he could make them for dinner. While waiting for the rice cooker, he glanced over at his pile of mail he’d been neglecting and sighed decing to just rip the bandaid off in one go. Most he knew were some form of bill which he happily placed in the “night right now” folder of his brain, some were advertisements and credit offers which he ripped up before throwing away leaving a final letter with a strange emblem where the postmark would go and only his name and apartment number on the front.

Curious but also worried, he opened the envelope carefully seeing a letter inside and something else tucked on the side. Taking it out, Yoongi noted the paper felt thick and expensive making him doubly curious as to what in the actual hell was happening here. Looking at the top one he began reading and as he continued a sense of dread and a cold spike of fear laid itself over him like a thick blanket. The letter fell to the floor with its contents still flashing before Yoongi’s eyes. He could feel his breaths start to shorten and his heartbeat rise causing him to pant softly. Before he fully realized he had slid against his wall curling his knees to his chest as he tried to calm himself down. There was a scent practically wafting from the letter and he could still feel it staining his fingers making him remember the last instance he had been around that particular stench. It took Herculean effort to pull his phone out while his fingers shook violently and his breaths still coming out in short spats. Thankfully he only needed to press two buttons for his emergency contacts and soon enough it was ringing.

“Hello? Hello, hyung?” It took Yoongi far longer for him to get his voice to stop constricting long enough to form a sound.

“He found me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyy~  
> I want to take a moment just, THANK YOU ALL SO FREAKING MUCH?! LIKE YOUR COMMENTS, YOUR KUDOS, YOUR BOOKMARKING OHMYGAWD. YOU GAIS ARE JUST. AMAZING. AND I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH  
> also don't hate me for the pain I am about to inflict  
> sharing is caring, yell at me in the comments! ~<33
> 
> **edit: i realized i had forgotten to add a picture of lil Kookie. special prize to whoever finds it!


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